The Protector
by Lavenderpaw
Summary: He's gotten on with life, but he's never forgotten. As Hogarth struggles to find his place in the world, something out of this world is coming for the friend he hasn't seen in seven years. Sequel to The Iron Giant. COMPLETE! :D
1. Seven years later

**I.**

Christmas 1957, Washington D.C...

He stared at walls for that was all he could do and that was all he chose to do for the most part. The man had been in detention in grade school, so this was nothing new.

"You could have a better life then this, Mr. Mansley." A heavily-accented voice accosted him from the barred window. The forty-year-old man did not acknowledge him, he only continued to stare bitterly forward. "You have knowledge that is essential to us. "

Still, he stared forward.

"I know of the robotic entity you encountered a couple of months ago."

Kent glanced over at the man behind the barred door.

"That accent," he muttered, suspicious. "Could you be a communist?"

"You are so quick to assume, I happen to be many things."

"What do you want?"

"Firstly, let me introduce myself. I am Sergey Dimelo."

**II.**

April 28th 1964, Rockwell Maine...

A gentle golden light settled over the ocean view all the way into the harbor of the relatively unsung historic fishing town. People went about their lives normally, contently, it had been seven years since the 'unknown invader' had given his life for their existence.

It was a debt that could not be re-paid except for moving forward with life. The new rays of the beginning sun stretched down to a craggy ledge, and intertwined with the dew-glistened grass to reveal a rust free yet burnt screw that lay against a large rock.

The screw just stayed there undisturbed for the last six spring times. It laid there with no hint of significance as it peered out patiently from behind a tuft of summer tall grass.  
Suddenly, it gave a small jolt – then another and another. The screw then beeped.

…

Late day...

A small girl with a long, black braid and blue eyes made her way along after her father from the local town grocery store. She looked up toward a tall cliff aligned with trees before turning to her father.

"Daddy?"

"Hmm?" the man with dark hair and casual work-wear vaguely answered her as he placed his brown bags in a compartment, he then picked up the crutch-aided little girl to place her near him as he drove.

"Ever think anything weird is going to happen?"

The man moved his tinted glasses onto his head and smiled down at her, a small spark of imagination flashed in his eyes. "Anything's possible, Julianne," he answered before starting the engine, the man then said musingly to himself, "anything at all."

She kept her eyes to the forest high above as they pulled away in entrancement.

**III.**

1964, Iceland...

A large vessel approached from behind a small isle of ice, it came coming near the triangular shape of a whale's fin arching above an iceberg. The men aboard worked to steer the ship around and prep a huge harpoon.

"Ready it, now!" Someone called loudly.

The frigid waters moved against them as they attempted circling in the direction of the fin, they managed to get a good position so that the barbed head would aim directly for the fin's mid-dorsal.

As they drew closer a few men noticed something peculiar about it, the water-washed fin looked to have bolts running around the right side of it. Gasps escaped as the gray skin appeared metal.

It was obvious there had been a ship wreck, they removed their hats for a moment of prayer when a deep, heart thumping shift in the iced-over ground made them look back up. A looming silhouette formed from the fog.

All of a sudden, a hand of mass proportions reached for the even larger object fixated into the little island of ice and the medium-sized glacier. The whale hunters gaped as a being with big, white eyes dislodged it's arm.

"Mother of pearl, the reports are true! It's the robot who hides in the glaciers and attacks ships. It has come to devour ours, men"

They watched in befuddlement as the giant reattached it's own metal limb, while one man aggressively knocked another aside to get to the harpoon and direct it right where the chest area was.

"Over my dead body will I let this creature do me in." He declared between yellow grit teeth.

The Giant's eyes fell to illuminate him and he instantly saw the intelligence that lay behind the calm, ivory beams. It was then that he looked over to the split of glacier and then back at the robot, who almost seemed to wear an acknowledging look. Beyond a doubt, the man saw that the Giant had _purposely_ placed his arm there.

He had immodestly baited them as he probably had done many previous times before. A gurgling noise broke the awed daze and the Giant reached his hand down to where the guy fell to his back in surprise that such a creature could be sentient; fear had avoided him entirely.

"Sir!" One of his men called. "The creature is reaching down for meh, no ,no, Ahh!"

The sound of something hard squelched, it sounded like bones being ground together.  
When the captain looked up the harpoon was ripped from the floor boards and plopped into the Giant's mouth. That's when he saw that a screw was missing from the jaw line, left the mandible askew.

Yet, the harpoon was eaten nevertheless.

They watched incredulously as he spat out the end of the harpoon and pegged the makeshift securer into the lower jaw's hole while using it's other hand to push up the limp jaw, it then gave what appeared to be a satisfied smile after working out the kinks in it.

The captain felt like he was ready to fall through the remaining planks.

With no more business there, the Giant turned around to head back into the snow and mist when an antenna slid from his head and sent a barely visible ultraviolet wave out. It was there for only a moment before vanishing all together.

It seemed to be picking something up...

This time it was the Giant's turn to look incredulous at such an unlikely occurrence.

"Ho-_garth_..." The strange name echoed like a memory waiting to come to the forefront, and then, a long-debated decision was made.

The men turned terrified in their fascination when he looked back down to them, gave their hull a small push with his finger tip to send them floating back and pointed at the place where the whale hunting harpoon had been on the splintered floor. The dumbfounded captain and his crew nodded automatically when he shook a finger at them as a friendly reminder. The Giant then gave a quick, affirmative nod to himself when he saw them a good distance away from the iceberg.

"Hmph."

They all watched as the metal being bent his knees and gave a launch into the air, his enormous body enveloped their light in shadow and they feared they would be belly-flopped to death but a moment later the Giant had vanished totally.

More ultraviolet rays had shielded his body in a wide but thin cloaked spectral.  
Flames rippled furiously like rocket fuel being churned out of it's combustion chamber over the gawking observers and, before any person could get out a single word, the fire trails had vanished.

"Where do you think it be goin'? "Someone found their voice to ask the obvious.

No one had an answer.

**IIIV.**

May 1st, 1964: Rockwell, Maine...

A large, red motorcycle raced down the main road with a smaller green one right at it's end, the tail pipes glowed as if they were about to send out jets of flame. Both cycles slowed upon reaching the local diner.

People glanced up from what they were doing momentarily while both riders maneuvered their way into the parking lot. The crimson paint of the bigger motorcycle gleamed freshly as the person removed a matching helmet.

"Your old man and lady did you one right, Garth Hughes."

The sixteen-year-old gave a side grin over at his friend before adjusting the mirror on his handle bar. "I'll say," he replied as he examined his lingering baby face. "Dean and Mom don't disappoint." The roundness seemed as though it would never leave.

"We'd have been here sooner if you hadn't stopped to work on that tractor."

"What can I say? John needed a hand. Sides, when I finally get my own body shop they'll be plenty of green to go around."

A small spot of stubble was growing on his chin and he fingered it a bit worriedly, shaving was always a pain. Hogarth put the kick stand down and checked his wallet for several coins.

"Hey, bro." Billy slapped a hand on his padded shoulder. "Think you can bum a twenty-five cent piece? I'm a little low on dough."

"You're up to three bone, man."

"Aw, c'mon, be a pal. How about I write an 'I Owe You' ?"

He gradually reached over to give him a quarter when the sight of a hippie gathering caught his attention. Hogarth was ready to disregard them when one girl in particular made him drop most of his change. She sat behind a tan folding table with a book under the shade of a live oak.

"Who's that?"

"Who?" Billy asked in distraction as he scrambled for the fallen coins.

"Her." Hogarth felt a lump in his throat as he pointed her out.

"That hippie chick? I think her name's Taylor Evans from English class."

"Is it okay if I see you around...?"

"Wait." he caught his friend's shoulder and whispered. "Are you really gonna go after that free-lovin' female?"

Hogarth glared at him.

"What? Girls like that only want to go with you for the-"

"I get it."

Despite his friend's warning, Hogarth felt himself gravitated toward the girl where several other hippie teens were braiding hair or tie-dying shirts while some were doing balloon animals, they had I Want To Hold Your Hand playing at a medium volume from inside a psychedelic patterned VW.

'Not my choice of coat, but I can dig it.' Hogarth thought.

Taylor was a petite girl of around sixteen with almost china doll-like features, she had hazel-ish eyes, a small bow-shaped mouth and a tiny, slightly upturned nose set in a perfect oval face while framed by straight, honey-blonde hair with a tie-dye bandana.  
Hogarth swiped a thick-toothed comb from his back pocket and ran it through his tousled auburn hair once before approaching her.

"So," He rested an arm on the counter and motioned. "What is all this?"

Taylor raised an eyebrow. "Ways for raising money for the vet clinic. Fifty cents per item." she added to him as she moved a tin can down between her knees.

A boy wearing John Lennon sunglasses paused from dipping a shirt. "Fifty cents? But it's-Oof!"

It was apparent his foot had been stomped on.

"Fifty cents?" Hogarth reached into his pocket. "Kind of steep, isn't it? Well, I would go on ahead but it looks like I only have one quarter." he flipped it up into the air expertly.

"Sorry about that."

"No problem." She snatched it up in mid-flip.

"Hey." he tried getting it back but faltered, "You can't just-"

"Here." Taylor placed a partially made balloon animal in his hand. "It's half off."

Hogarth lifted a clear red stub by the rear legs. "Is this a tail...?"

"Mm-hm." She smiled sweetly. "I made it up to be a donkey."

He forced a smile. "You aren't as funny as you think you are."

She stood up. "And _you're_ not as cool as _you_ think _you_ are."

"Well, maybe I happen to like leather jackets." he pulled on his collar. "And motorcycles."

"And maybe I have a unique sense of humor that goes unappreciated."

"How much was it really?" Hogarth demanded, he would not be taken for a fool. That was something he could do himself.

The two stared each other down a moment before Taylor let out a weary sigh, she slipped back down in her folding chair in defeat.

"Ten cents," she admitted before holding out a dime and nickel to him. "It's hard to believe, but we haven't had many kids by."

"Not that hard. When I was a kid I always had my nose buried in a comic book." He gave her hand a dismissive wave. "Save a pup."

"I didn't mean to con you." She tried giving him his change.

"Yes, you did."

"But not personally."

"But, intentionally." Hogarth pointed out, his index finger wagged in the air for emphasis. "I put up with many things, but lying about lying?" he smiled.

She gave a laugh before ushering him away. "All right, get going. I think we've already gone and made enough of a scene as it is…"

He turned perplexed when she suddenly trailed off and stuck out a hand, his fingers touched a well-muscled chest under a T-shirt and then struck the upper gums of a huge teenager behind him. Hogarth was jerked by the wrist around in time to face Gordon Rhinestien, the bigger teen stood with his shoulders brought back and his body poised in order to confront.

"Gordon," Hogarth greeted him in exaggerated casualness. "Long time no see." he turned to glance over at Taylor and added in a whisper, "or stench."

She rolled her eyes.

"You hittin' on my girl, Hughes?"

"I don't hit girls and I'm pretty sure people don't still own people."

Gordon loomed down closer to his face. "She's my girl." he hissed.

"Guys." Taylor sounded in a struggle to stay level. "Come on."

"I'm handlin' this, babe."

"You're making a scene, Gord." She told him.

"Gord?" Hogarth tried not to inhale the jock's foul breath. "That's that vegetable they use during Halloween, right? With pumpkins."

The acne-prone face turned from suspicion to confusion to anger.

"You're asking' for it, loser face."

"Here." Hogarth coolly pulled out Gordon's jacket pocket and dispensed some white candies inside. "Breath mints." he then released it and gave the pocket a couple of pats. "and plenty of'em."

"Why you..."

"Ever wonder what a single pants leg is called? Is it pants or pant?"

He fumbled a bit with the square brass buckle as Gordon kept a towering vantage point over him but Hogarth grinned slightly when he got it.

"What the-?"

The bigger boy scrambled to regain a more secure lift for the blue jeans that were failing him. When he got them situated, he thrust a hand out for Hogarth only to find his belt latched onto his wrist.

"Well, you were sort of asking for it."

"Let go! Please, le' go!"

"All righty then." He released the belt.

When Hogarth turned to see Taylor's reaction, she was heading to board the Volkswagen bus while the others loaded the stand inside. The girl gave him an unsure glance before getting on.

Hogarth started to move in her direction. "Taylor..."

The door closed shut and the automobile started. Everything had back-fired.

"Hey, Garth man. Nice one!" Hogarth turned to see one of the members of his on and off again motorcycle gang call out.

"Brother, the guy can talk his way out of anything," Another commented as they entered the diner and went to the far side. "as slick as the gray rabbit himself."

The leader, a stolid eighteen-year-old with a slight scar on his arched brows, gave Hogarth a nod to come join them before going in.

Instead, he took pity on the stumbling bully by undoing the thick belt and tossing it in his hand. Hogarth walked over to his bike before Gordon could stand up and with the hopes his mother hadn't seen.

A quick glance over toward the diner's window showed Billy giving him two thumbs up in mock congratulations with Taylor while he sucked some of the fizz off his cream soda. Hogarth stuck his hand in his pocket and gave him a subtle Bird.

'Yeah,' he thought in annoyance. 'Just keep that smug look pal.'

When his mother turned to wave with a smile at him, he gave a customary wave back and steered the heavy machine out onto the road, stopped to look both ways and started for home. That was when something made Hogarth pause to turn toward the setting sun far out in the distance.

His bike was poised toward home and yet he still stared toward the western sky ablaze in bright oranges and pinks. To avoid remembering, the young man started his destination. Thinking that it could happen would only serve to erode his acceptance of things; what was in the past was in the past.

To be continued...

~ Lavenderpaw ~


	2. Lights in the night

**I. **

Late afternoon was evident behind the full green foliage as Hogarth drove over the long-ago repaired railroad track to avoid getting that occasional scrap metal under his wheel. A quarter of the yard had statues of impeccable design that covered it's perimeter. There were paths cleared for his mother's truck and for both the motorcycles where this was.

Hogarth parked his mid-way to the barn and headed in the direction of the backyard where a big, rectangular structure projected up to the evening sky at a height of four stories.

He walked over to where one open square was and stuck his head in to look up. The inner parts were darkened but for a stream of light near the middle and light escaping through slits at the top forming a man's outline; It was Dean's entry for a telescope design.

"Hey, D, need a hand?"

The light beam turned down in his direction and caused him to have to shield his eyes. A few moments passed before he saw the top square removed, this let in more of the fading sunlight.

"I could always use a round of applause, it's sort of like my motivation juice." Dean finally replied before going back down to his spot to work on a loose square. "I am down to my last bolt."

Hogarth located a bag near his foot and chucked it up to his step-father. The size was impressive as the sculptures were usually not much taller then six-foot-tall. Dean said this equaled a huge investment.

"You think the recruiters will like your design?" the man's stepson asked.

"Let's hope they love it." He said as he untied the bag. "I got the mail today." he added as Hogarth turned to depart.

"Oh yeah? Anything about a scholarship?"

An uneasiness grew then.

"No, your grades."

"They sent my transcript in the mail?" Hogarth was appalled.

"Right after that last C plus, your mom and I thought it'd be a good idea." Dean pulled the slip out. "And we were right."

Hogarth pulled at his sleeve trying to appear unassuming. "I think it turned out well this last semester, a solid A in all areas..."

"_Except,_" Dean said abruptly to halt his step son. "Advanced English."

"It's a B, right?"

"Try two letter grades below that." The man sighed and placed it in his back pocket. "Sorry, kiddo. We had an agreement.' Till that grade averages out to a B it's time to park the Honda."

"But you know how long I've told my friends I was getting one. If I park it now, they'll ask "why?" and then when they ask me "why?. I'll have to tell them all about my grades. And if I do that, I'll be back on a bicycle and my social life will be finite."

"And the rest of society as we know it will collapse with it, like Rome." Dean never had liked the spotlight.

"Speaking of Julius, where's Julies?"

"Inside," He went to another side to work. "Check on her."

"Could I maybe go...?"

Knowing his step-father was too concentrated on his work to argue, Hogarth left and begrudgingly wheeled the motorcycle into his family's barn. Inside it was musty from a lack of cleaning. There was, however, a large place that was embedded into the old strewn straw that no one had bothered to mess with. Hogarth walked over to it and picked up an old comic book, slipped it in his jacket and turned around to leave without a second glance back as he closed the barn doors, the dust particles swimming in evening light slanted down onto the large spot in the straw and revealed a much smaller spot embedded in it's center:

This spot looked as if a child had laid down, curled up and fallen asleep in the larger spot years ago.

A slightly off feeling came to Hogarth as he locked the doors and went toward the farm house. The thought of grabbing a bite to eat crossed his mind as he made it up the porch steps. His six-year-old sister Julie waited for him on the porch as he approached. As usual, she looked anxious to talk.

"You feel it too?" the girl asked with a grin as she balanced on her crutches and exposed her missing front teeth. "It's really weird."

Hogarth gave her braided, black hair a humoring pat. "Sure."

"I'm serious, Hoggie. I can feel someone coming here."

"Like when the tooth fairy came last week?"

"There's no tooth fairy, you know that. I think it's the Iron Giant."

He looked down at her; she hadn't mentioned him for a while now.

"I thought you forgot about that story."

"It's not a story, bubbie. It's real."

Hogarth said nothing as he carried her upstairs to her floral print room.

_Polio, _the doctor's voice echoed even three years later. _If we treat it now, we may save her. Few guarantees._

"If he really did come back, what would you do? Could I meet him?" Julie's voice interrupted his thoughts.

He sat her down on her bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. White light from what Hogarth still suspected was Dean's project floated mutely through flower fringed drapery.

"Sleep tight, Julianne. Your dad should be coming in soon."

"Well?" She asked as he headed out of her room.

"I don't have an answer to that, Julie." This was his honest reply.

He headed down the hall to the bathroom and stepped inside to look at himself in the mirror. The decor was pretty much the same with different wall paper. Hogarth reached over to grasp the can of shaving cream and arm himself with only an old cut-throat razor.

Giving a little salute, he proceeded to whip a heavy mass of white around his mouth and hold up his nose with the blade in hand near his chin. Hogarth then sighed when he realized you were only suppose to do that when you _got _to shaving under the nose.

The wall opposite the window seemed more well-lit then usual but Hogarth didn't notice.

He rubbed the back of his hand across his face to wipe the foam off and fingered the stubble of growth with a little, proud smile – maybe a goatee was in his future. The teenager washed his hands and dried them before heading back in the direction of the rooms across from each other.

Hogarth closed the door to his own and went to lay down so as to try clearing his head. It would have been ridiculous to agree with her about feeling something even though he did. Pursuing that feeling would be even more ridiculous and so he wouldn't. That was final.

"Don't fill Julie's head with allusions that she'll be okay." his mother's voice came. "Just tell her the Lord has a plan made especially for her. Toddlers can't comprehend these things."

But Hogarth did know she comprehended something. Seeing into those attentive blue eyes, he knew his half-sister knew.

Hogarth turned over and watched as the ebony trees were being outlined against the navy blue backdrop of twilight. This was the way he would fall asleep some nights.

Gradually he'd drift into a deep sleep and only then did his thoughts get free reign of his mind. Hogarth began feeling a bit drowsy when a spark of light made him sit up on his bed.

The night outside stayed the same for a moment, then twin yellow beams formed through the trees. Unable to utter a word, Hogarth went to swipe a flash light from off his desk and face it at the window.

With unsteady hands, he twisted the metal body twice and waited .The beams stayed the same. He turned it a third time but only once. He willed for a reaction, anything. Nothing.

"Come on, signal back. Let me know you're there." He urged.

Still nothing.

…

After checking on his daughter, Dean retired to the living room where he scanned over his blueprints. The judges would be there in six days and he was falling behind schedule. If they decided to use his telescope design, that would mean more money to spend toward all the things that Dean felt his family deserved. Between him and Annie, they just barely managed enough.

While Hogarth was able to make his own personal earnings doing odd jobs around town, it was the bulk of their pay that went toward Julie. The rattling of the porch caused Dean to look up from his work. Suspiciously, he took the paper, a flashlight and his fifth cup of espresso over with him to the window .The moon cast a strong iridescent beam through the tall trees across the yard.

'That light,' he narrowed his brown eyes in thought. 'Either the moon is falling or that light's fluorescent.'

…

Hogarth was ready to accept the inevitable when the circle of lights blinked twice, paused and then blinked again. There was a still moment before the two lights went out instantly.

He went to lay on his back to think, the teen was a bit stunned and paralyzed of taking immediate action. It had taken three years to stop thinking of the Giant every single night, it had taken six months to accept that Julie's condition was no one's fault. In those remaining three and a half years, Hogarth had lost sight of himself.

Her question then re-registered:

_"If he ever came back, what would you do?"_

Hogarth hadn't had an answer to that before, but now he was prepared.

More then prepared.

In a state of overwhelming excitement, the teen grabbed his keys and opened up the window. He was out on the porch roofing just as a new beam of light fell clear above him.

Looking up he discovered that someone was on the house.

"Dean really wasn't kidding when he put that floodlight on the roof." Hogarth mumbled as he inched his way along the wall and made it down just as the yellow light passed over.

…

"What are you searching for?" Annie Hughes called up to her husband as she stepped out of her truck. "I thought you were kidding when you said you'd use that. Something up?"

"Not quite. Hogarth's grades came in the mail."

"So you're putting him on lockdown?" She shook her head.

"It's not that I don't trust him, it's just that I know that his head isn't going to win over his hormones. He wanted to go out tonight, so I thought after Julie went to bed I'd wait up."

"Literally up." Annie pushed her auburn hair back. "It looks as if everything's well, but what if he really manages past you?"

"Trust me, "Dean leaned back in his lawn chair bolted down to the roof's peak. "I'd hear him before he got on the lawn."

A forceful _vroom!_ noise caused both adults to look in the direction of the barn. Dean managed to direct the large light on the swinging doors in time to see Hogarth weaving his red motorcycle expertly through the metal statues.

Annie turned to look at him pointedly. "You were just saying...?"

They watched on as he swung around from behind his mother's truck and tore down the road gunning the big bike. Dean was down in a minute to jump in the still open truck. He nodded for Annie to go on inside and followed suit.

To be continued...

**A/N: **Could it be? Find out!

~ Lavenderpaw ~


	3. Down a dark road

**I. **

The night was completely swamped by a veil of deep blue except for the slim arc of moon peering down on Hogarth as he sped along the eerily unlit highway. His thoughts were on other things, however. He had seen the Giant and he had to find him.

Very rarely did he sneak out but this was far too important not to follow suit. There was no sign of him just as there was no sign of traffic, the highway seemed devoid of any life.

Gnarly black figures rushed by in a blur as he gripped the handle bars in determination, he pressed his motorcycle forward without fear. Though as he drove further their twisted fingers prodded him tauntingly without a single touch.

Hogarth glanced over at them finally and shook his head. Trees was all they were. A bit shaken, he guided his two-wheel vehicle onto the side of the road behind a large pick-up.

The headlight made out a faded blue door and a newly minted license plate reading Maine GR232. There were many pick ups in Rockwell but Hogarth knew that particular truck well.

"Gord," he said to himself and that's when he was reminded of his mother and step-dad seeing him do this. 'What have I done? I didn't actually see him, I only saw light beams.'

Hogarth felt foolish now, he was ready to turn back when a yelp caught his attention. The sound seemed to have originated from the woods a few yards from the highway.

He grabbed the same flashlight from before out of his belt loop and headed off into the thick timbers. Having grown up playing in the forest Hogarth was able to move through it quickly and quietly with relative ease.

After going down a steep slope he ducked in and out as all the trees became grouped together, he kept the flashlight's yellow beam down to see the base of their trunks.

The young man slowed with the sounds of shuffling feet not far from where he was. There were low gasps of breath and then a final shuffle, a girl it sounded like, gave an "uh!" cry.

Flashing the light forward he was surprised to see Taylor Evans clinging to a thin fir, her face was flushed bright red in crippled anger.

"That'll teach ya ta try n' push me off when I want you!" A slurred voice boasted." You do as I say! Ya hear me?"

"Leave me alone," She faced the person.

"Not likely, doll face."

Hogarth felt his heart quicken in his chest as memories came to mind in flashes. There was a little raven-haired girl of four being pushed down in horseplay, her screams of pain followed as the boys laughed, he fell off his bike to get over to the little girl.

Pulling out the folding knife he normally used for carving wood, Hogarth jumped out from where he was and skidded to a stop in front of a drunken Gordon. The boy staggered a bit then paused.

"Hughes?" He said. "What're you doin' here? Clear out!"

"I'm giving you one chance." Hogarth blocked Taylor with one arm and enclosed the other side with his body, the knife was lowered before him in a twisted pose. "Turn tail now and get back in your truck."

"You lil' pussy, you're all talk. You wouldn't sooner touch me with that blade if you had a bomb strapped to ya. Get outta my way!"

"Turn around, Gordon Rhinestien." He commanded steadily.

The hot, meaty face twisted into a sneering expression. "You ain't man enough, Garth Hughes. You wouldn't last a night in my pop's cooler, let alone a whole lifetime. You best move 'fore I smash y-"

Hogarth advanced a few steps and the lumbering boy backed off a few steps, he eyed the big silver blade with furrowed eyebrows.

"I'll ruin you, man. I'll ruin your whole family!" he shouted in what was almost a sob and turned to look at Taylor. "And you, sweet cheeks. You're ruined too 'cause I won't never take you back hon."

Gordon took more awkward steps back before he gave a little jump and took off running like a mad man in the direction of his vehicle.

"Attempt of murder, attempt of murder!" He echoed to them.

Hogarth straightened and flipped the knife back into his pocket.

"It stayed a little rocky, but at least there were no more hits." He turned to Taylor only to receive a fierce smack across the chops.

"Are you completely insane?.! You just pulled a knife on the son of the sheriff!" she informed him in a blistering tone. "I really thought you of all people would have more common sense then that. Aren't you worried?"

"Are you worried about me?" Hogarth grinned as he massaged his jaw.

"Not the point." Taylor breezed by him. "You're in serious trouble."

He wised up but still tried to appear collected. "Gordon was drunk off his rocker, Taylor. This'll all just seem like a bad dream by tomorrow."

"Oh, dream on. "she was talking fast as she began to pace. "He might seem like a total half-wit hick, but he's sharp, in memory at least."

"I wasn't going to let him harm you." Hogarth came over to face her self-righteously. "Besides, I wouldn't have done anything to him unless absolutely necessary. I've never cut anyone before."

Taylor turned away. "He wouldn't have hurt me too badly."

"I wasn't taking chances." He caught her chin.

She looked ready to argue further when her eyes grew into the size of saucers. A look of pure terror stole over her fine features.

"You look like you've seen a ghost." Hogarth remarked.

"It's not a ghost, look!"

He turned in the direction of her pointing to see the outline of a _very_ familiar being standing and looking at them some distance away from the twisted firs and pines struck in gloomy shadow. When Hogarth tried to approach him, Taylor started yanking on his arm to go straight.

"We need to get out of here," she told him in a panic. "Come on!"

"No, it's all right. He won't hurt us." Hogarth stepped forward even as he felt his arm being held taut. "I need to see what he wants and..."

Turning in time, he saw the girl rushing off without him and back toward the highway. Understandingly, he did not follow.

But when Hogarth turned back around the Giant had left again. It struck him impossible that the Giant would take off without one word. Why was he leaving again? Now?

In determination, the teenage boy fled in the same direction as the one Gordon and Taylor had taken. He saw no signs of him or her as he mounted his bike and bolted on down the highway.

Hogarth kept going until he found a gravel road a quarter of a mile from where he'd been and took off down it at full speed. Thoughts of him being obsessed came to him or even delusional.

'It's been seven years,' he reminded himself. 'But Taylor saw him too!'

Finally, he came to a screeching stop atop a familiar place. It was where the Giant had learned he could fly and, hovering right over the edge with his afterburners glowing softly and his yellow eyes directed observantly on the motorcyclist was the Iron Giant himself. There were no words for this moment but one, Hogarth's nervous gut told him this.

That word was _impossible_.

…

Annie Hughes stood by the window with the curtain pushed back as she peered out into the eerie night. This is exactly where her position had been the night following her husband's murder.

Johnston Hughes had been in the USAF and had become too tightly involved with something top secret, he had attempted to tell her something very important following Christmas 1955.

Somehow he had been unable to for whatever reason and had left for his base in southern Nevada. She remembered him telling her not to worry, he had said that anything aimed at would be toward him only.

_Aimed_. She had always wondered why he had used that word. Upon boarding a bus he had been shot in the side. The man responsible had never been found.

"Johnny," Annie whispered and placed her hand to her mouth. "I want to know if I made the right choice by pushing our son so much about school. It seems all I've done is to push him away."

Things had went so well after Dean had moved in and they had birthed Julianne. There had been the incident and Annie had to wonder if she had neglected her first born in that time of crisis.

"Why did Hogarth run away, Mama?" She turned to see Julie.

"He didn't run away, he just went out for a while."

"I heard you say that Hogarth was pushed away." The child told her perceptively, her eyes widened in concern. "Did I do that to him?"

Her arms were around Julie instantly. "No, don't ever think that."

"Then why did he leave?" She persisted softly.

"I'm not sure."

…

Hogarth barely registered sliding off his new motorcycle let alone putting the kick stand down and pulling his headgear off; he didn't even wait to hear if it fell over or not as he walked over slowly to reunite with the Giant. The helmet he hadn't fastened when he had jumped on his bike fell from his hand as the beams of light stayed on him.

"I can't believe it," his voice was breathy and bemused. "It's really you."

"Hogarth?" The Giant questioned as the teenager approached, his voice was still it's same baritone pitch. He lowered down more as the person in question approached.

Hogarth tried to open his mouth but couldn't. This couldn't be, it was impossible…

"It's me."

His normal volume of voice returned.

Hogarth noticed that there was an uncertainty in the Giant's appraisal of him. He looked down at himself with a small, self-conscious chuckle and saw that he obviously did look different then the previous seven years; taller, leaner, and with a biker's swag to his steps. Hogarth looked back up at the Giant and noticed patches of faded scorch marks visible on the front of his body but for the sake of the moment he ignored their outward differences.

When they met eyes the Giant still appeared unconvinced about something.

"What's wrong?" Hogarth asked, he brought his brows together.

That's when he suddenly noticed a rock by his foot, this was only because it was being tapped against his right heel.

"Oh." Hogarth grinned as he picked up the beeping screw. "So this is how you found me. I remember letting this go years ago."

He reached up with the screw in his hand expecting for the jaw securer to be taken but the Giant only stared at_ him_ expectantly. Finally he cocked his head and squinted his luminous eyes down. The chalk-colored light grew together rapidly to center beneath Hogarth's shirt and on his pocket – the folding knife was outlined.

Hogarth looked back up at him as he now crossed his arms. "You saw that? Didn't you hear what I said to Taylor? It's wrong to hurt others but if you have to protect someone...do you understand?"

By now he was irritated, could this not be looked past? After all this time a single event was going to eclipse this moment, Hogarth had only been trying to protect Taylor.

"Is all you're going to do is _stare _at me?" His tone reflected frustration as he stressed.

"Yes, I've changed. Everyone does. But I knew you were coming, even my sister Julie knew it."

"Hmm?"

"She's related to me like my mom but only partly." His words were a jumble now. As such Hogarth felt his head begin to ache and so he rubbed it.

The Giant realized the strain between them and uncrossed his large arms. He gave a heavy sigh.

This made Hogarth look up at him. "This isn't really going well."

"Hogarth-," his friend began to say in a hesitant yet earnest way. "I-,"

"Hogarth!" Someone yelled.

Startled, he whirled around in time to see his mother's pick up truck stop in a jerking halt. The door swung open and Dean leapt right out.

"I'm in for it." Hogarth's felt his shoulders sag but that's when he swiftly recalled why he had broken the rules to begin with.

Dean approached him with a newfound forbearance. "Why?"

"You're never gonna believe this Dean, but-"

"Calmly," he raised his hand for silence. "And clearly tell me what possessed you to disregard your grounding. It had to be good."

"It is." Hogarth told him a bit less eagerly, his eyes remained excited however.

"Then please enlighten me."

The trees seemed to grow dimmer to Hogarth out of the top of his eyes but he knew he had to stay composed in order to deliver.

"He's back."

Dean messed with his wavy black hair." 'He?' Who is 'he'?"

"He, _him, _you know!"

"The Giant?" Now he grew more interested.

"Yeah, he's right..." Hogarth turned to a sea of darkness with only a half moon glowing down on them . "He was here. I swear. Dean, I swear to God he was here!"

"W-w-wait a minute. "Dean shook his head and met the eyes of his step-son in utter amazement. "He's why you came out here?"

"Mainly. I was just lying in bed and I thought I saw headlights."

"On the second story?" His step-father smiled knowingly.

"But they weren't headlights," Hogarth continued, undeterred. "It happened so quickly and I had to go see. Can't you understand?"

"I don't see anything but you and the moon, Hogarth."

"No, no!" The teenager turned and ran for the edge of the cliff.

"Kid, get back here."

Hogarth did.

"But then I followed him and ran into some trouble and..."

"And?"

"And what if the Giant crash-landing here _wasn't_ just some freak accident, maybe there's more to it then that!"

"Hogarth..."

"Maybe there still is."

The thirty-seven-year-old man dropped his gaze down to look at the ledge, he was still skeptical.

"I _saw_ him, Dean." Hogarth declared firmly.

When his stepfather looked back to him it was with a look of understanding but it was not one for Hogarth. "If that's the case, than _you're_ the one he wanted to see Hogarth."

His stepson was left in disbelief.

The teenager glared down at the screw in his palm. "You don't believe me."

"It's not that I don't, but kiddo..." Dean plopped a hand on Hogarth's shoulder to garner his attention. "You're not a boy anymore. I mean, we're talkin' sixteen-years-old and still growin' up here."

Hogarth tried to pass him toward the truck. "I know."

"No, I'm not done yet." He kept his hold. "Look me in the eye when I talk to you. What you choose now will affect you the rest of your life. It's been a while since I've said this but I hope you can live with the choices you make."

The younger man glanced away. "I'm sorry I took the bike."

Dean backed up to think a moment. "Help me get it in the trunk."

Hogarth hung back a moment, he willed him to reappear at the cliff.

"I could use an actual hand with this now."

Once the large motorcycle was loaded and secure, Hogarth and Dean got in without a single word. The truck was turned on in a chugging, noisy manner before Hogarth could sort out his thoughts.

He ended up looking over his shoulder to still see an empty sky. A disappointed look crossed his face briefly before he turned to look forward. No more was spoken on the long drive home. There was nothing more to be said.

…

Unseen by either one, the Giant stayed below the craggy edge of the mountain range. He had heard every last word said. A sad regret seeped into his eyes as he decided to keep his distance…

For the moment.

To be continued...

~ Lavenderpaw ~


	4. Stalkers

**I. **

Dawn, May 3rd 1964...

Out of the star-blazoned sky, a golden spacecraft glided without noise down to the outskirts of Rockwell. The sleek piece of otherworldly transportation landed and a side hatch opened.

Kina stepped out with her long purple rob trailing after her. The young woman had pale skin, very slim features and flowing black hair. She was a delicate appearing seventeen-year-old on a not so delicate mission. The car-sized craft began to reconfigure itself into it's original form.

_Adjust proper language setting._ She told it in her own language.

The droid's eyes flashed green. _Processing… Finished._

Walking over towards it Kina took a piece of silver that bore a striking resemblance to a retainer and slid it on her tongue tip. The robot watched as she fitted the piece.

"Now that I speak their language, finding Droid 7000 will come easily." she turned to her own droid and said sharply. "I am going to locate the person linked with Droid 7000, you will find,-"

"Droid 7000 undetectable." It informed Kina who then swiftly kicked it in return.

The droid only stared at her with vacant eyes.

"Piece of garbage!" she huffed. "Very well. The second that 7000 lowers it's cloaking abilities I expect it found. In the meantime, I will blend in. Send Father word that the mission is halfway over."

"Do you wish for departure now Kina?"

"Yes. When you find Droid 7000, if it resists, subdue it in battle."

"What if it poses no resistance?"

"Do not question my authority, 35,000! I want 7000 caught!"

As her droid set off into the woodlands, she withdrew the configuring manna used to allow her droid to transmute. Droid 7000 was connected with a living being from this era to an extent so there was no telling how powerful and adept the droid could have gotten.

Kina placed the swirling energy to her heart to re-absorb – she had lent to the droid to transmute. Kina then continued on undeterred into the city limits. She vowed to locate Droid 7000.

Her energy was shared with Droid 35,500, it always had been, the creature depended on her and had gradually grown more _conversational _with Kina. It attempted to make itself Kina's equal!

"It better find Droid 7000 by the end of today, until then I will adapt to the inhabitance."

**II.**

Morning, May 3rd 1964...

The next couple of days that followed after the events in the woods were nothing short of miserable for Hogarth. When he wasn't in an awkward situation with Taylor Evans at school, he had her ex to worry about; but Gordon Rhinestien only sent him dirty looks.

He never bothered him. In fact, no one had. His friends would become distracted when he was around and no one else spoke to him unless necessary. This made him ponder possible rumors.

Then there was the fact that the Giant was still out there, he was far too uneasy with the way Hogarth had turned out to pay him any more mind which compounded everything. And if that wasn't bad enough, he was failing English.

"Mr. Hughes," The teacher said to him Friday with only five days until the end of school.

"I would like for you to remain behind after class..."

Hogarth looked up from his perfectly detailed sketches at Mr. Barnes with a look of half-hearted interest on his face. That's when he thought he felt Taylor's eyes on him from behind. She was looking at him!

He anxiously glanced to the far left only to see her copying down notes. Taking in a resigned breath he turned to see that a pale-skinned girl around his age was smiling at him from directly behind his seat.

"I need to speak with you in the halls." Her green eyes sparkled.

He had never seen her before. "Um..."

"Mr. Hughes, face forward."

With that said the bell shrilled and students spilled out into the halls. Hogarth gathered everything (himself included) and went to face the middle-aged, balding teacher. The man was pleasant.

"You are an exceptionally gifted student, Mr. Hogarth Hughes. A talented artist as well judging by your time spent in my class..."

Hogarth folded the drawing of a 50-foot-robot behind him and placed it in his back pocket. "Yes, sir. I've tried to aim for that A."

"Aim higher." Mr. Barnes said calmly but firmly. "You are a point from failing this class, Mr. Hughes, and I am sorry to say I will fail you," he left that part sink in. "_But_, I am willing some extra credit."

Fear of total disappointment dissolved with this last sentence.

"Anything!" Hogarth blurted out. "Just name it."

"My friend lives in Ashmore twelve miles from here. His sister and niece just moved to Rockwell recently: Trisha and Taylor Evans."

They both turned to see that she had remained in her desk.

"I mentioned you the other night when Dan, err- Mr. Barnes was over visiting at our apartment." she walked up to them with her books pressed to her chest. "And Mr. Barnes talked about hold-"

"Holding me back, I know." He cut her off and shot their teacher a look for personally interfering. "If my folks don't know, I'll do it."

"And when you are done, you will use Saturday to type out a five page paper on the importance of becoming a strong role model."

This put Hogarth on guard. Had Taylor said something? "My typewriter is broken."

"You may use the one in the library. I'll put in a special request."

"So you'll do it?" Taylor got in Hogarth's face challengingly.

He stepped back and crossed his arms surely. "Whatever it is."

As the two walked out of the classroom together, to Hogarth's surprise, he saw the girl from before leaning against the wall beside the door. She was actually intent on talking with him.

It was strange because hardly anyone had in days.

However, with Taylor speaking to him again and failing the tenth grade looming over his head, he found getting to know the girl not a high enough option at the moment. It probably wasn't that important.

Besides, he was getting two of the three things he truly wanted. The one girl he was interested in wanted to get to know him better and he had a shot at not failing his mother and step-father now.

The third thing he wanted, the one that mattered most, alluded him.

…

Afternoon sunlight seeped through the leaves of the tall live oaks that populated the park. Under one tree in particular Hogarth watched Taylor down on her knees with her arms elbow-deep in a flood of suds. A dog panted heavily as she scrubbed it's thick coat.

"Don't forget behind the ears," he coached her as he held a cigarette in one hand and a can of Tab in the other. "And get under that rumpus."

"You could be over helping me, ya know. I seem to remember you promising to do whatever it took to pass, right?"

"I didn't think it meant getting wet dog smell on me."

"Well," Taylor looked at him pointedly. "I'm the one whose going to have to tell my uncle to speak with Mr. Barnes. It's up to you."

'Great.' Hogarth thought but knowing she was right, he started to squeeze the bud of his cigarette against his cola to put it out when he saw that the tip was no longer lit. In fact it appeared to have been pressed together by someone. The weirdness of the situation was not lost on Hogarth as he tossed the can and bud in the trash and went to assist Taylor.

"Now what?" He inquired breezily as he sat down with the water basin between them.

"Take that plastic cup next to you and start rinsing. Try smiling once in a while to get people in the park interested." she turned to wave at a passing group of children with her sponge in hand. "Simple."

"All this for an animal shelter." Hogarth reached for the cup when the small brown dog suddenly whipped around and licked him on his lips." Ugh!" he accidentally splashed frothing water on to Taylor.

"Garth!"

"Whoa...sorry!"

She backed away in time as the dog shook itself off on him which caused a small smile to stretch across Taylor's mouth. He narrowed his blue eyes as she tried to hold back a great burst of laughter.

"What's that on your shirt?"

His hands sank into the sudsy water as Taylor looked down at her slightly damp blouse and up in time to have water splashed across the side of her face. The dog leapt out of the basin as she picked it up.

Hogarth stumbled to retreat on the grass. "Taylor, no...don't!"

_Sploosh!_

Before he knew it Hogarth was soaking from head-to-toe with all his clothes sucking to his body. He sent her a mock furious look and rose to his full height of a whole five-foot-nine. At a very poor height of five-foot-two Taylor was instantly swept up in his arms.

"PUT ME DOWN!" She yelled excitedly. She kicked and punched on Hogarth's back as he headed directly for the park's tall granite fountain

.

"You brought this on yourself." he laughed and chucked her into the mouth of the stone structure. The sight of her fuming through her tangled hair made him grip at the side trying not to crack up.

Taylor seized him by the shoulders and jerked his jacket right off as she pulled him into the water. He gently dunked her under and, upon noticing the attention they had drawn, came out but not before helping her over the granite edge and going over to retrieve his jacket.

Hogarth noticed the dog had headed over to the grove of live oaks. He saw the mongrel sniffing at something in the air before wagging it's tail uncontrollably. As he went over to scoop it up and take it back over to rinse it, the dog rested it's chin on his shoulder and looked back in the direction of the trees. Hogarth was intrigued that it was whimpering at having to go and so glanced over his other shoulder. There was nothing.

"Garth, c'mon. I need to get home." Taylor called out.

He turned to keep going and saw that his shadow looked longer then usual out on the grass. As Hogarth examined it closer he saw that the shadow's upper body was very well defined with a large crest upon the head.

…

Kina watched diligently from behind the foreign black and white words printed on a paper she had picked up. Keeping an eye on the being connected with Droid 7000 proved remarkably easy. Getting him alone was the difficult part. The boy had the beginning of a physical connection to Droid 7000 and unless 7000 revealed itself, or Kina caught the boy it was attached to alone, there was no way to capture the droid.

"35,000." she contacted her droid over a two-way watch. "Has 7000 appeared?"

"Negative. It will need to consume metal soon though."

"Does it know of our existence?" Kina asked, she was starting to get nervous.

"Droid 7000 is not aware of us or our intentions."

"And yet it remains hidden."

"Why it resists showing itself is unknown." 35,000 informed her.

"Yes, it was only programmed to sense direct assault so why will it not appear? What could be it's motivation for staying elusive...?"

…

The Giant watched without being detected from his invisibility cover as Hogarth walked with the person from the night before toward the park exit. He wanted to approach him again but he felt he could not.

Something was preventing him, there some strong feeling that kept him away. It was as if he did so he'd place Hogarth in even more harm then he was already finding himself in as he had a couple of nights ago. But the Giant was taking it upon himself to keep watching out for Hogarth just in case something did happen. And when and if it did he would be right there.

…

"I can't believe Hughes got my girl." Gordon muttered as he kept a distance behind Hogarth and Taylor, his friend Troy was beside him.

"If you hadn't been drunk outta your everlovin' mind it wouldn't have happened." The other jock pointed out. "You don't have any proof to back up your claim that Garth held a blade on you, man."

"I'll get'im alone," he spat sideways. "Get'im to fess up."

"Not going to happen, dude. Garth Hughes is a nice guy. The only time you'll run into trouble with him is if you mess with someone he cares about. And trust me, you don't ever wanna try it."

"Why? I don't have nothin' against his family, just him."

Troy gave him a startled look. "You don't know? Someone messed with his little sister three years ago and got the shit knocked out of him. But there's another reason to leave him alone."

"What? You stickin' up for him?" Gordon lashed out.

"No." The sixteen-year-old boy turned to look his friend square in the eye. "Something went down here in Rockwell that you didn't get to see about six or seven years ago, so just let up on the guy."

"What'd you mean?"

"It's hard to talk about, so no one does. Too much complication."

"What are you sayin'?"

"Give up on Garth."

"No way." Gordon shoved Troy to the side and kept moving. "As soon as I get Taylor alone, I'll make her come clean about him."

He continued to glare after the two as they left his sight.

…

"You really know how to make a scene." Taylor commented as they walked at a leisurely pace through the park, the late spring breeze was cool and calming.

"I could say the same thing about you, Miss Evans." Hogarth replied.

"So, that's him?" She asked as they approached the monument.

"Oh, yeah. That's-,"

Hogarth grew silent at this question and she turned to see that he was looking at the statue of the Giant with mixed feelings, he was becoming transfixed in memories she knew she would never know, so she stayed quiet.

"Yes, that's him. My step-father made this statue." He finally said.

The bronze figure stood tall yet humbly with a look of tranquil observation on it's face as a small boy stood trustingly in it's hand. An air gust that was strangely nostalgic wafted past them and caused Taylor to pull the leather jacket Hogarth had placed over her shoulders closer to her body. She gazed at the statue with him and wondered what must it have been like for him. What had it been like to have his best friend sacrifice himself for this little New England town?

"My uncle in Ashmore told me the story." She said softly.

Hogarth still didn't meet her eyes. "I'm not really sure what to make of things anymore," he said this as he sighed deeply and hooked his thumbs through his belt loops. "I'm hardly the person I used to be. I proved that three nights ago. What am I suppose to think now that he's back? I mean, I definitely want him around but I have to wonder what he-,"

Hogarth caught himself then.

"Sorry, I shouldn't have unloaded on you."

Certain, Taylor let the jacket slide off her shoulder as she took his hand. "You should listen to yourself. Hogarth," he turned to look at her when she said his full name. "The way you talk about him... I'm sure he still sees you for you even if you can't see it right now."

"Come on." Hogarth placed the fallen sleeve back on top of her shoulder before shoving his hands into his pockets. "And call me Garth."

The two walked toward the exit.

…

Hogarth looked back toward the monument wanting to believe Taylor.

To be continued...

~ Lavenderpaw ~


	5. Zero in

I.

Daylight was gradually waning behind the tall trees of the Maine forest. After seeing Taylor off to her apartment, Hogarth continued home on foot. He was feeling pretty good as he crossed over the tracks to start down the scrap-metal free yard. That's when he saw a cop car.

"No."Hogarth started to back up when Shieff James Rhinestien came out on to the front porch. He caught sight of the stunned youth and waved at him to come over. Bracing himself, he approached the large,brawny adult.

"So this is the kid who helped save the town,"The man gave him a pat on the shoulder."I was just coming by to see if this telescope design of your stepdad's was something to look at,and I can surely say it is something."

"The recruiter will be by tommorow to check on it."Dean suddenly appeared in the doorway,turning to Hogarth."You've met the new shieff,haven't you?"

"I've heard about you from Gorden."He hated saying that name.

"Gord has a habiet of exaggerating."Shieff Rhinestein chuckled."But you, son,I've heard all about you from this town.I might not have been here at the time you and your friend saved everyone,but meetin' ya is an honor."

He stuck his hand out.

Hogarth reluctantly gripped the offered palm and watched as it engulfed his own. Although the pressure applied was just a friendly one,there was fear struck him that the next time this happened it would not be released. Hogarth smiled.

"It's an honor to meet you too,sir."

"Nice talkin' to you again,Dean."The shieff said in his Southern accent and headed out to the police crusier."You too, Garth, take care of yourselves."

The two met eyes as he backed from the driveway.

"I am proud of you,kiddo."Dean told him,slugging his shoulder harmlessly as he walked around the house."Who knows,maybe you'll earn your cycle back before your thirty."Hogarth watched dreadfully as he left from sight.

_You won't be so proud when you find out I pulled a knife on your friend's son._

He turned with a sigh to see Julie grinning at him,the downstairs spin dial phone was stretching over her shoulder. Hogarth took it from his sister quickly.

"Julies,you're going to snap the cord."

"It's your girlfriend, Hoggie."She announced peppily.

Hogarth shooed her gently away and placed the receiver to his ear."Hi."

"Hey, are you busy?"Taylor asked him.

"Well,I'm ground-um..."he always thought better then to moan about his punishments."No,I'm not busy. Something up?"

"I'm sorry to bother you over this, but my mother was waiting inside of the apartment when you dropped me off. She told me we've been evicted. We were leaving to stay with my uncle in Ashmore,but our car isn't working."

"Have you left already?"

"We're about mid-way between your town and Ashmore."

"No problem,"Hogarth assured her."My stepdad and I can come out and take a look at it. Ashmore isn't far out from Rockwell so just hold on."

"There's something else,Hogarth."She said quickly.

"What?"

Her voice suddenly sounded sick and weak."I left my mom's car to go to this bus stop where the phone booth is at and call you. Hogarth,"she tried to contain herself."Sorry, I know you don't like that name..."

"Tell me what's wrong,Taylor."He told her in calm persistence.

"Gorden is waiting outside in his truck for me, he just pulled up."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but the way he's looking at me...he looks like he's about ready to come out."

"Taylor..."

"Please come get me or call someone or _something_!"

"I'm not allowed on the motorcycle..."his thoughts turned back to a drunken Gorden ready to do harm to Taylor."Hang tight.I'll be there soon enough."

"Hurry!"

Hogarth immediately sat the phone down and opened up the door to the stairwell where Dean hid an emergency key to the older black motorcycle.

"You'll be grounded forever."Julie informed him.

He kept his back to her, unable to look into her rational blue eyes.

"Be a good girl."

"Be a good guy."She countered.

The next second he was out the front door.

x.x.x

Gorden gave the terrified Taylor a crooked grin as she barricaded herself up against the phone booth. When he had learned from his friend (the son of the landlord to Taylor's apartment) that she was being evicted,he had taken it upon himself to tinker with her mother's vechile before they left Rockwell.

And much to his great fortune, she had left Miss Evan's car to seek help at the phone booth between the towns. Now he sat and waited for whomever was showing up to show up. Gorden felt smug,he had a pretty good idea who it was. When that person came around there was a rifle in his lap.

Taylor proceeded to dial another number. To his surprise,it was only a trio of digits she pushed.A few minutes passed with her on the phone and he looked up in surprise to see a cop car pulling up beside his battered truck.

"Evening Son."His father came around to meet Gorden at the window."I got a call from your girlfriend there."he crossed his arms and glanced over at a relieved-looking Taylor."Seems like you've been harassing her some."

"Before you say anything else, you've gotta know that Garth Hughes pulled a knife on me."Gorden fumbled with the truck door handle."I'm only here to get Taylor to admit it an-and he threatened to cut her too Dad!"

"Gord, quit makin' up excuses."

"Pops, Hughes is the one you want."He felt something fall on his feet.

It was the rifle he had borrowed without permission from his father.

"Gorden!"Shieff Rhinestien exploded on him, his normally calm demeanor becoming shattered."I can't believe you would make this cock-and-bull story up and-"

"Dad, look!"He cut the ranting man off.

Both watched as Taylor raced from the phone booth and ran back in the direction of Rockwell. Instead of pursuing her, the Shieff halted his son as he attempted to get back into the truck. Gorden felt his father's fingers digging into his arm and he felt betrayed.

"I met Garth Hughes less then ten minutes ago, if there is one thing I can say about him it's that his mom and stepdad brought their son up a hell of a lot better then I have."He yanked his son into the small car.

Neither noticed a golden being leaping from tree-to-tree toward Rockwell, it's lit eyes burning like eager embers. It's quarry was not very far off now.

x.x.x

Hogarth barrelled down the road doing sixty,his mind already at the place where Gorden was tormenting Taylor. He knew he was being implusive,he knew he was going to be in trouble but he would not let Gorden hurt her.

A shimmer of light in the dark made him look up as a silohuette went to eclipse the partial moon while falling down upon him. What looked like a cannon rose in the air and formed a cast of pulsating orange at it's end.

"Oh, good Lord."Hogarth whispered,absolutely petrified behind the bars.

He unclutched the gas and willed the bike to stop as he stared up dead-on into the night, it was going to strike him in one aerial assault. All feeling left Hogarth's body as the motorcycle levelled off into a surprisingly steady twenty.

Clenching his teeth and snapping his eyes shut as the wind finished whipping through his hair during the deceleration, he braced for impact.

x.x.x

Before the beam of energy could hit Hogarth, the Giant leapt from the side of the road and managed to pluck the teenager up in his fingers just in time. He generated an energy shield within his hands as he went crashing half a mile away, bulldozing trees with a single shoulder along the bumpy way.

The Giant waited until coming to a complete stop before he opened his hands. It had been disastrous the last time he had landed so violently. He carefully lifted Hogarth up to his eyes to inspect him, fearful that he may have done harm. Or, his arms stiffened in thought, possibly...

Hogarth grunted a little as he sat up and turned to the Giant, looking somewhat surprised to see him.

"Great timing."He finally said with a small, glad smile. The Giant tried to return one but noticed that the makeshift harpoon tip he had used in his lower jaw was gone. Upon realizing this, Hogarth unzipped a pocket of his leather jacket.

"Here,"he held out the now mysteriously unbleeping screw."Can't forget this."

The Giant reached out to claim it, his enormous fingers clasped around the bulbuous top inches from the teen's open palm. Both of them made eye contact at this point, and the incident from two nights before was no longer the biggest issue at hand.

Once the bolt was secured back in place, he rose with Hogarth in hand to see over the treetops and at the mysterious gold robot awaiting the two.

The robot that had nearly detonated Hogarth.

Their reconciliation had come just in time.

To be continued...


	6. The offerer, the believer, the deceiver

**A/N:**There is some story-telling to this chapter.

I.

Steam from the intended attack rose up from a road-wide crater. No one aside from the three were out, Hogarth noted thankfully, but the sight of demolished earth and cement made him shudder inside.

The being that stood before them gleamed an outline of gold,while it's eyes held a fiery orange contempt in them as it leered them both in a sort of prolonged anger. But why was it so angry to begin with?

Hogarth stared scrupulously at the technologically advanced robot that was a few feet taller then himself, yet held a very deadly power within. He looked to see if the Giant had a clue about what it was only to see him equally puzzled.

"Becareful, but let's try getting closer."

"Halt!"Someone called out.

A young woman came running out from the trees and went to stand beside the robot. When the Giant lowered his eyes unto her Hogarth was able to make her out better, angularly-propotioned with thin features and high cheek bones. She looked incredibly familiar to him.

"You're that girl from my English class, the one who sat behind me."

Her response was one of knowing repose."Why, yes ,I am her in fact. It was urgent that we speak,but you had your own self-interests."

"Why did that thing attack me?"Hogarth demanded in a low, calm voice.

She looked at the golden robot,who by now seemed normal and no longer threatening."My apologies, 35,000 simply misinterprets what may or may not be a threat.I assure you, it is not to happen again."

"35,000?"

"Yes, and your droid 7000. That is why I am here. You see, I've come from a planet that has lasped into devastation since the destruction of all 8000 guardian droids. Yours is the sole surviving unit thus far."

Hogarth shook his head,trying to grasp her words."8000 others?"

"Correct,"she gestured at the Giant."They were manufactored to be a protection for our planet against asteroids and other matter that could destroy us. These droids, however, were themselves destroyed.

The platforms transporting them to the outside to orbit around our planet came apart and they crashed back into the ground. Many of my race perished upon impact in the multitude of explosions, the 7999 dying as well."

"_What_?"The Giant said, thunderstruck.

"So what do you want with him then?"Hogarth asked, trying to be respectful but remaining unconvinced.

She dug into the pocket of her dark pants and pulled out a thin disk. In a flash of silver, what appeared to be a hologram projected into view before them and over the jagged crater. Realistic images revealed that of a desolate land with adobe-like homes that reminded Hogarth of a war aftermath.

"You see, we need to scan Droid 7000's data to save what is left of our planent. My father,"her tone wavered."needs to analyze and copy it so as to construct a shield out of it's components."

"It looks like it would take a long time to get there," Hogarth leaned forward from inside the Giant's palm. "And..."he paused to think a moment."I'm sorry, but I just don't think it sounds that possible, um..."

"Kina."She told him abruptly, looking away from him."I accept your response. The atmosphere is weakening constantly and still some are killed every day, however."

"I feel terrible about it, but it sounds too outrageous."he turned his attention to the Giant, who was contemplating."What do you think?"

"I can come back?"

Kina nodded reassuringly."Yes, there are two teleportation sequences I possess," she smiled invitingly over at Hogarth. "There is another way..."

The Giant looked at him, a strong sense of duty defined in his luminious eyes. Hogarth looked between him and then down at the steaming hole in the middle of the road that had been intended for him, he then looked at Kina in dead seriousness.

"That could have been me."he told her. The Giant emphasised on this point by shielding Hogarth with his other hand, making it _supremely_ clear to them that he would not hesistate to defend him if they posed anymore of a threat.

"It was an accident."

"Doesn't matter."Hogarth nearly snapped."One little "accident" can lead to a lot of trouble, and this whole thing is an accident waiting to happen."

Full emotion brimmed in Kina's eyes as the Giant turned to leave.

"I am sorry for that."she said with a look and voice full of sincerety at him."35,000 will never do that again. If you'll just permit 7000 to come with us, you may need to accompany us as well if it is possible."

"Hell if I will."

Hogarth noticed the Giant was torn about going at all and he felt guilty.

"Droid 35,000 was protecting me, that vechile with the black circles confused it and mistook you as a threat. It was not you, of course..."Kina's words were soft and assuring, yet well articulated and alluring.

Hogarth sat back.

"Have you not ever had a similiar experience? I agree in absolute, we must be more catious. Though I have travelled so far..."

"How do we know you're telling the truth? My friend and I know all about the programming you installed." He really didn't want to believe her.

"It was for defense against asteroids."

"Bull shit." Hogarth muttered and the Giant looked down at him, white eyes very conflicted, his metal fingers curled up and inward a bit more so that they were only looking at each other. He felt his own defenses wavering at the Giant's assuring gesture; he would not leave if Hogarth didn't want him to and he would not leave for wherever this place was without Hogarth.

They looked back as Kina turned grim and flashed another picture into the hologram, a sea of gray stone markers covered a dry field.

"This happened after the droids crashed down, you are not to blame 7000. You did nothing. But I'm giving _you_ the chance to do something about it."

They met eyes again decisively and Hogarth saw that the Giant was now certain.

"I'm sure he's already decided on it and if he goes, so do I."He told her, the words felt like they had come out a little too quickly.

_"He?"_Kina repeated in surprise.

Hogarth was about to respond when he saw someone running off to the side of the road, someone who was panting hard and looking tired out. Unseen by him, Kina stared at the newcomer venemously. She slid the disk back in her pants and the area reverted back to a giant crater.

"Taylor?Taylor!"

Her attention was entirely on him, not noticing the others."Hogarth!"

The Giant hadn't lowered him down all the way when she leapt up and engulfed him in a hug. He pulled her back to meet face-to-face.

"Are you all right?"

She nodded,speaking in frantic breaths."Are you?"

Thats when Taylor noticed the gray being looking down at her in an interested way, his head cocked slightly as he examined her in his hand.

"Hi."she waved faintly, smiling nervously."I'm Taylor."

He smiled back affably."I'm...um..."

"You didn't give him a name?"Taylor glared at Hogarth.

"What?"he shrugged helplessly."We never got around to it. I think the Iron Giant works just fine."

"Are you and 7000 coming or not?"Kina asked a bit impatiently."I do not mean to sound hasty, but the sooner the departure,the better."

"What is she talking about?"

Hogarth took Taylor by the shoulders steadily."Listen to me,we have to leave for a while. You need to go back to Rockwell and see my mom and step-dad. Tell them I'll be back when I can and not to worry."he tried not to let his doubts show to her."All right?"

"If you _honestly _think I'm playing messanger girl while you go out in to God knows where with a bunch of ailens you're out of your mind."

"So you'll do it?"

"No!"

"Look,we all need to go where were most needed."he lead her over to Dean's motorcycle laying over on it's side, trying to keep her from looking at it right away."And, well, do you know how to ride a bike?"

"Uh...yeah."

"How 'bout a car?"Hogarth pulled the heavy machine upright.

"A few times but those are totally irrelvant."

"Great."he dropped the keys in her hand and dropped the helmet at a precise angle onto her head, it covered half of her face."Okay,got it."

"Ugh, I'll get helmet hair!"Taylor yanked it off and pushed it back into his hands."Hogarth, I can't ride this and I won't let you leave alone."

He crossed his arms and nodded to the Giant."I think I'll be fine." he said.

"I'm not going anywhere unless I'm with you."She said stubbornly.

"As much as I like the way that sounds, you need to get back."With one last resort, he scooped her up and placed her on the motorcycle.

"Hogarth, stop..."

A giant metal hand lowered down like a gate at a toll booth in front of them, Hogarth turned to the Giant.

"She can't ride it."He said matter-of-factly.

"Well, she can't come with us either. It's risky enough as it is."

"If the girl wishes to come, she may."Kina chimed in casually.

Hogarth dawned an idea as he glanced at a nearby tree, looked up to the Giant and back to an adamant Taylor. It was really the only way.

"Okay?"he asked his retro robotic friend."It's fast, convient and safe."

x.x.x

Shieff Rhinestien thumped his large fist on the door of the McCoppin residence. This time around he wasn't on a social call and he hated it.

"Hello?"A pretty woman parted the door open, green eyes wary."Oh thank goodness."she placed a hand to her heart."Come right on in."

"Thank you."He took his hat off and was deterred from speaking by the family's worry-stricken faces."Sorry, is everything all right here?"

"We thought you could tell us."Dean replied."Hogarth has been out for an hour now and we've been up waiting for him to come home."

The shieff replaced his hat."My son Gorden here,"he gestured for his lumbering son leaning in the doorframe."Has something to say to you."

"Well,I-"

His father cleared his throat abruptly and nodded down at Julie who pouted a bit as her mother gathered her up and took her upstairs.

"Is Hogarth all right?"Dean inquired uneasily after they left.

He looked gravely into the man's eyes."When your stepson returns from doing whatever he's doing, I'm afraid I'll be pressing charges."

There was an agonizing silence.

"On what grounds?"

"Assault."

x.x.x

"Hogarth..."Taylor gripped the tree branch to vent frustation,calling out in forced calmness."I'd like for your friend to get me down now."

"When a living being bonds with a droid bodily,such as the one you and Droid 7000 have established, you will be able to take the form of any transportation device you can imagine with configuring mana."

From what Taylor saw, Hogarth was becoming slowly fascinated with all this Kina girl said and she also noticed the Giant was hooked on the many points Kina made about his home world;she as well felt amazement.

But also like they were being reeled in. This girl was a kind of munipulator, she was adept at pursuading by pathos (emotion) and ethos (facts).

"That sounds incredible."Hogarth finally said."But how's it work?"

"Hogarth." Taylor attempted to call out.

"With your mind...plan."Kina tapped her head."And with your heart you will create."she tapped her chest and loud noises came about.

Everyone watched in astonishment as the gold droid's body started to rotate around and configure itself into a small, hovering saucer in only a matter of seconds.

"It's like some dream,"Hogarth raked his hand through his mop of brown hair."_It_-it's just not possible."

"It's now or never."Kina insisted prudently."Do you wish to protect?"

_Protect._

Hogarth then looked completely convinced, as though that one single word had broken any more resistence that lingered around the four. Taylor watched as Hogarth seemed to be making up a mental picture.

He touched his hand to his head and then to his chest ,and a swirl of blue energy appeared in his hand. This intitally was shocking but was somehow easy to get use to. The two looked to one another and at the same time touched it. Taylor gasped in fright at the surreality.

It had taken one second and everyone was gone, replaced by a floating gold saucer and a 100-foot-tall spaceship.

She really wished this wasn't happening, but the fact of the matter was that it was and it was happening to her as well. How many other all-American girls, Taylor wondered, actually got to witness something like this? If Taylor didn't act now it would be too late. Determined to keep her word that she would not let Hogarth leave without her, Taylor stumbled down the five branches below and raced out as a ring of deep orange formed at the ship's bottom.

"Hogarth!"she yelled at the gray metal wall."Hogarth, you can't go!You have an English report due, remember!"

The fuel seeping out was getting dangerously near her feet. A door suddenly appeared next to her and, with no one around, she got on. It was such an unsettling feeling that she might be leaving Earth. Taylor's only assurance was that she wasn't alone and that she might be safe was the fact that she felt protected around both of them. What was scarey was not _knowing _whether she was safe.

They had opened the door for her, though, so she may as well be the first woman in space.

x.x.x

"Mama,"Julie tried explaining to her mother as she tucked the sides in under the mattress to prevent any bed falls."It's true, Hogarth went to go save his girlfriend from a bully and I think the guy at the-"

"Julie, honny..."

"I think it was that guy next to the shieff talking to Daddy."

"Julie."Annie said a bit more deliberately.

"And the robot Hogarth use to talk about,I think he came back."She looked out her window and saw what she thought was a rocket taking off though the spiraling fir trees.

Her mother sighed at her excited gasp."Julianne."

"Mama, look!It's a rocket!"

"Julianne."she caught her daughter's shoulders and the young girl saw the realism grounded in the emerald depths of her eyes."That story about the robot and Hogarth isn't true, you _need_ to keep a focused mind."

"Okay."Julie replied softly, touching Annie's cheek."But it's still true."

A kiss on the forehead and she left her daugther's room."Love you."

"Love you too."

Julie turned to look out the window, her thoughts on her brother.

_I know he's in that spaceship.I know he is._

To be continued...

LP


	7. Second thoughts

I.

Dean and Annie sat silently together in the living room long after the Rhinestiens had gone home. The glow of a lamp provided little light in the otherwise pitch black room. From where she sat, Annie saw that it was nearing eleven PM; it had been three hours since her son had left.

"I don't believe it,"her husband said quietly."I just don't believe it."

She closed her eyes._Pulling a knife on someone isn't ever believable._

"He can be a handful sometimes, but Hogarth wouldn't do something like this. The last thing that he'd do would be to threaten someone and someone whose the shieff's son no less."Dean looked over at Annie."But then he did attack someone once, didn't he?"

"Hogarth wouldn't do something like that."

He touched her shoulder."The shieff wouldn't lie about this, Annetta."

Annie opened her eyes."I know my own son, he's not dangerous."

"I agree."Dean placed an arm behind the sofa to straighten himself to her level, his face inches from hers in the still darkness."But we can't-"

"Dean, I don't want to even consider this possibility!"She cut him off in an angered hush and turned away to gaze out into the middle of the room where Hogarth used to sit on the floor and watch old sci-fi flicks on TV.

"_Shh. _Julie."he reminded her."Annie, it's obvious something happened a few nights ago that we don't know about.I don't think our son-um-your son would do anything if there wasn't provocation involved in it."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying we need to wait for Hogarth's side of the story."

The ring of the doorbell caused them to jump a bit, Annie went stumbling around for the kitchen light and made it to the front door as Dean came up behind her. The couple looked at each other and she opened it to find a woman somewhat younger than Annie standing there.

"Does Garth Hughes live here?"She asked hastily in a Jersey accent.

"Yes."Annie gripped the knob slightly."May I ask who you are please?"

The woman dressed a bit skimpily under a trench coat with high heels.

"Trisha Evans. My daughter Taylor has talked about him non stop, so I figured when she left my car to call him he had picked her up. Traffic is jammed up so bad I had to hitch a ride with a Fisherman whose more familiar with the backroads than I am, I thought she might be here with him anyway."Trisha paused a moment and then grew very worried.

"Come on in."Annie motioned for the woman to enter and went to a counter."Ice tea?"

"No thank you."She walked inside to scan the inside carefully, but everything except the kitchen was in the shadows."Taylor's not here, is she?"

"We're looking for our son as well."Dean told her.

"That could mean they're out together."His wife added, sitting down as the adults looked at one another, things were now adding up.

"Shieff Rhinestien mentioned seeing Taylor headed back for Rockwell by herself."Dean sat down as well."He couldn't find her though when he came here several hours ago, but he saw his son was with her by a phone booth."

"Gorden?"Trisha gave a look of disapproval."He's my daughter's ex."

Annie thought a moment."Would she have gone anywhere with him?"

"Not after Wednesday. My darling walked home alone and teary-eyed. It was pretty apparent he'd been talking crap to her.I never did like him."

"I told you all."Came a little but strong voice."It was that Gord guy."

They all turned to see a bed-rumpled Julie in the living room doorway.

"Julianne..."Annie sighed tiredly.

"Hogarth's girlfriend called him on the phone 'cause of Gord."

"And what did Hogarth do?"Her father inquired.

"He was scared for her so he went after her."

_Provocation_.Dean thought intently, giving his daughter a proud nod.

She smiled back.

"Trisha,"he turned to their guest."Did Gorden ever do harm to Taylor?"

"Dean."Annie hissed and looked over at Julie."She's in the room."

"It's all right."

"Harm?"her face blanched at Dean's question."Oh,sweet heavens."

Both adults went to her side as she started having a panic attack.

"D-do you think m-my daugther is all right if s-she's with your s-son?"

Annie nodded at her husband and he considered his answer carefully.

He felt ashamed for not thinking of the truth sooner.

"Yes, if they're together your daughter is in the best of hands."

II.

Hogarth felt a bit of nausea mingle with excitement as he kept feeling himself being propelled through what he imagined was the vacuums of space, he was buckled to a chair but the sensation felt like a launch off.

Although the interior was dark there was an almost natural feeling to being sent into space, he imagined they were passing planets and stars on a large extraterrestrial expedition. This was something he was still processing.

It was all very nerve-wracking, and yet very thrilling--- it was like he was in a dream and yet he knew this was very real.

Hogarth gripped the armrests of the chair bracingly as everything began to slow down. Gravity once again claiming everything and his buckle unsnapping caused him to gather his senses as he rose to his feet.

"Uh...hello?"

There was a mechanical whirring noise and his shadowy surroundings began to dissolve. When Hogarth was able to search around, he saw the Giant had been reconfigured and now stood in a dazed state.

"Everything okay, Giant?"He asked concernedly.

His white eyes focused down on Hogarth and he seemed to recover.

"Those were just a few minor side effects."Kina informed them,brushing off some invisible dust from the sleeves of her robe."No need to worry."

_There's always a need to worry._He thought guardedly.

When Hogarth turned back to the Giant he saw someone was sitting upon his shoulder; it was Taylor."Thanks for letting me come."she said to him.

"You gotta be kidding me."He muttered as the Giant lowered her down to the ground, causing Kina to give a small chuckle at his reaction to their stowaway."You let her come?"

"Well, at least someone thinks I can take care of myself."Taylor barbed.

Hogarth took her hand to help her down."That's not the point!"

"Then what _is_?"She demanded,taking her hand back and leaping down half a foot.

"This could get dangerous."

"And if you knew that,"Taylor rose up on her toes."why did you come?"

Hogarth didn't answer right away, he looked up at the Giant who gave him a curious yet critical look in return. At that moment he realized how great of a risk he was taking, but he did know the reason as to why he was there.

He turned back to her, saying squarely."Because it's important to me."

Taylor smiled and said to both of them."It's important to me too."

"Good to see we are cooperating,"Kina commented."Please follow me."

Once he got a better look at his new surroundings, Hogarth noticed the entire area had many giant facilites made of reinforced metal that were scattered about with large, zig-zagging paths made of flat black pavement.

"There's other people here,right?"Hogarth asked Kina as they walked.

"Yes,the other citizens live outside of the scientists' facilites."she looked at him from the corner of her half-closed eyes."You will not be meeting them. After our failed droid experiment,we have been understandably shunned. With 7000 we hope to make up for the past."

"You said you were going to copy his DNA?"Taylor inserted.

"This will be better explained by my father tommorow,"Kina answered in her assuring voice as they approached a facility with doors that had to be a hundred-and-fifty-feet tall."For now, I will show you to your quarters."

"Something isn't sitting right with me."Taylor whispered.

"It'll be fine,"Hogarth told her,a lso whispering."If anything happens, we'll find some way to leave. She has good intentions and we can help her. Besides,I don't think she'd travel all this way across space for nothing."

Doubt still lingered in her eyes.

"It was your choice to come."He reminded her, but gave her hand a squeeze."But we're going to watch out for you, got it?"

"Who leads your government?"Taylor pressed Kina, looking away from Hogarth.

This made the young woman stop and stand a bit rigidly."Well,"she said a bit reluctantly."No one leads anyone here. What one person needs to survive, the other provides. As I have said,all will be made known soon."

"Sounds a little like anarcho-capitalism."

Hogarth glanced at her, heeding her words. They both had a good grasp on politics.

As the large doors shuttled away from each other in parting, Kina said.

"7000 will need to remain behind."

"Why's that?This place looks plenty big enough."Hogarth argued.

"Standard procedure, I'm afraid."she nodded at her droid."35,000 will be able to show him his own accommodations. Is that a problem with you?"

"Go on."The Giant urged them,wanting to keep things at peace. He did, however, look at the 'robot' to make sure it remained where it was; a good distance from the others.

"Are you sure?"Hogarth asked crucially.

He nodded his dome-shaped head, but still remained a bit concerned.

"Well..."Hogarth poised slightly to move inside."If you're sure..."

An inevitable feeling of unsettledness wrought within his chest as only he and Taylor followed Kina into the unknown insides. He didn't take his eyes away from the Giant until the doors closed off the outside.

_Have we made the right decision? _He thought to himself.

x.x.x

"It is intriguing the way you and him communicate."35,000 noted.

The Giant looked over at it. "Communicate?"

"One could almost assume you both were on equal ground,"It continued to speak before turning to meet his eyes."That is not true of course, you will quickly learn your place here that you are lower then Hogarth."

Pondering over 35,000's meaning ,the Giant put a hand over his head in measurement and then brought both hands nearly together in order to match Hogarth's height. But this made no sense at all as he stood taller.

"That is incorrect, he is above you."35,000 tried to explain and made a noise of frustation when the Giant looked skyward into the star-studded sky, giving his metal cranium a confused scratch. "No, 7000!I do not mean in terms of size but of status and stature."

They met eyes again.

"We do not mean as much as they do, as Kina and the others."

He looked closely at the steadfast creature and bent down to it's level, the creature inched back as he rested his arms on his rectangular metal knees. By meeting at this level he felt he could establish his own views better.

"We do mean as much."The Giant told it calmly, his upper shutters lowered.

35,000 backed away."You are far too naive to comprehend but you will learn in time. Now, if we will please proceed."It started toward the right.

The Giant stood up, now rendered doubtful about the whole thing.

"Do you need reminding that it was your 7999 kind that rained down on our planet in that failed experiment? You and you alone survived.I would think that you would wish to fix something that only you can. If so, follow me."

That was right, only _he _could protect the rest of his homeworld. This place needed him as Rockwell, Maine had once needed him.

Hogarth's actions to protect Taylor four nights ago came back to him, he had done what he had to do to protect his friend; who he assumed wasn't a boy. The Giant had seen that had been Hogarth's reason, but he still worried for him because his method had been wrong. The nine-year-old he had met all that time ago was different, and yet the same.

The same person who at least_ pretended_ to use violence, but he knew Hogarth would never harm anyone.

Just as he wouldn't.

The Giant followed 35,000.

To be continued...


	8. True intentions

**A/N:**Thanks for all the positive feedback.I think you'll like this chapter,I want to point out that having complete knowledge of this planet will not be totally essential for keeping up,but it helps.I'm also thinkin' five more chapters instead of four.

I.

Following the golden robot in front of him began to grow rather repetitive and mundane, the buildings were at the Giant's height and the light in the many windows seemed to melt into each other after a while. Although he could see the sky, it was only through a blur of light if he glanced up.

"We are nearing."Droid 35,000 informed him.

He gave a murmur of slight exasperation and stopped to try and gather his bearings. Everything was the same and he was use to that; vast, endless whiteness. But this routine felt mechanical.

His surroundings as well as this other creature like himself seemed to be completely in place and far too in to place. Trying to dismiss this, he turned to see that 35,000 had continued on probably with the assumption he was still there. The Giant, wanting to break away from the stringent, systematic feeling, took a chance and began back in the other direction.

This didn't feel right to him.

II.

Although he still held some reserve, Hogarth couldn't help but marvel at the interworkings of the enoromous building. The curving walls surprisingly had different paintings on them which depicted objects while others illustrated events.

Roof-length windows panneled the other side and held a well-lit view of a courtyard type of area. He looked over to Taylor, she had tied her long light brunet hair back and was looking intently outside the octangular panels.

"Quarter for your thoughts?" Hogarth prodded her with a light joke.

She met his eyes."I'm just wondering about where everyone else is."

"Back on earth," he smiled a little adventurously at the notion. "I mean, we're on another planet. Go figure."

Taylor still did not appear reassured.

This was actually somewhat similiar to the made-up portions of Iron Giant stories he had told Julianne. _Be a good guy..._

Hogarth looked down at his feet a moment, the idea that Julie might actually meet him after all was enthralling.

"Here we are,"Kina finally announced, a bit more upbeat as she took out an oddly inscripted card and slid it in through an access slit."I do realize all of this has been rushed, rest assured tomorrow you will learn everything."

"Nice."Hogarth gave a low whistle as they entered a well-furnished room set in an wide array of yellow shades."Wow, this pad has some digs."

"Yes."his hostess agreed,a bit unsurely."It is a nice..._dig_,as you so call it."

"It is."Taylor came up to the taller girl."But I've been wondering..."

"Yes?"

"How are you able to speak English?"

Hogarth surpressed a moan.

He noticed Kina touch a piece of silver on her tongue."Before I forget, here are some you can borrow."she gave them two like her own.

"It's sterile, right?"Taylor questioned, but slid hers on anyway.

Kina touched Hogarth's shoulder."I cannot believe you agreed to all of this, especially after previous events."

The gesture was a bit awkward and he immediately brushed her thin fingers aside.

"Well, it's for the Giant more then anything. He saved my home once and if this is the only way to help save this place then the least I can do is be here with him."

The idea of space travel greatly interested many people, but few would actually risk it if given the opprotunity. Hogarth even thought that it might overwhelm people to the point of trauma. But then, Hogarth Hughes wasn't most people. How many people had true blue friends made of metal?

"Here."She placed a metal object the size of an 8-track tape in his hand."This is one of two sequences I hold that will return you at any time, hold onto it and use it at anytime."

"Will do."Hogarth examined it a second and placed it in his back pocket, he would have to field test it later.

"How about those cards you use to open the doors?"Taylor said.

After Kina handed them both inscripted cards like her own and left,Hogarth made sure that they were alone before turning to Taylor. She flopped back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Unhurriedly, he went to sit on the edge.

"This must be pretty wild for you so far. With robots and everything..."

"I think I've taken a liking to yours."

"He really is something else."Hogarth said frankly, but felt uneased when Taylor used the word "yours" as if he owned him; which he did not.

There was a thoughtful silence for a moment."Where is your father at?"

The question, asked by virtually no one in years, took him by surprise.

"Sorry."She apologized as she realized it was a touchy subject.

Hogarth breathed deeply."He was shot by an escaped convict back when I was eight. The guy was on the road as Dad was boarding a bus to ride back to where he was stationed in Nevada for the USAF."he crinkled his brow."Why?"

Taylor kept her hazel eyes trained upward."I know there are people out there who say they're anti-war and everything.I would say I do object war, but I do admire those who protect and serve us too."

"Everyone should."He agreed mutually."So...how about your dad?"

"Well,"Taylor sat up to look at him and he felt a small tingle scale up his arm when her fingers touched his hand."Let's just say your being fatherless was for a cause worth mentioning."she leaned forward and up to his face.

Hogarth crained his neck down to meet her level and they both kissed.A short moment later he cleared his throat, causing her to sit back. The two looked into each other's eyes in surprise at the spark they had felt --- and smiled. At ease, they both walked to the door with their hands cupped.

"You are different, Hogarth."she laughed."I will say that."

"I'm still shocked you wanted to hang around me after, ya know..."

"It was a poor move."Taylor admitted seriously."But you did for the most part talk your way out of trouble.I don't know,I guess around you I feel-"

She cut herself off as she saw around his shoulder, dawned a discerning look and gave him a friendly jab in the ribs."I'll save it for another time."

"Good night."Hogarth told her as he stepped back into the halls.

Taylor winked once before closing the painted doors."Hope you both have one."

_Both?_

He gave a drawn out breath just as the sound of glass being tapped caused him to start to grin in realization and he turned to see a familiar face at the window. Keeping in mind that he was at a high level, Hogarth found a handle to the window that rose to the ceiling and opened it up to enter the well-lit perimeters.

"Hey,"he said to the Giant, stepping out onto his hand."Guess you finally managed to shake your tour guide too,huh?_Whoa_,a little out of practice."

The motion of the large arm caught him a bit off-balanced as he transitioned from hand to left shoulder. Once Hogarth settled, he noticed the Giant gazing back curiously inside before turning to see him."Love?"

"Who?Me and Taylor?"He saw the intrigued notion playing in the Giant's eyes as a response."In...love?No way.I mean, I like her alot but it isn't love."

The Giant still appeared unconvinced."Hmm..."

"I'm serious."Hogarth replied, a bit red-faced. But he gave the inside a last look."Well, it's getting there."

They were interrupted by a small hovercraft speeding down along one of endless slated black roads. As they watched it Hogarth instinctively felt the foreigness the Giant was experiencing, he was from this planet but did not have a clue in the universe about it. That's when an idea presented itself.

"Why don't we check this place out?"He suggested,explaining."It looks like we can sort of come and go. This could be our chance to see whats up here,and it could give you a chance to learn about your past."

"My past?"The Giant asked.

"It's good to know where you come from, about your culture and things."

"Hmm..."

"You know,"Hogarth began to say when he saw two unarmed but rather imposing men glide by on scooters; somewhat discouraged also by the memory of his friend's hidden _talents_."Maybe the past isn't reason enough."

A low rumble in the Giant's stomach became the biggest motivational tool.

"Okay,"Hogarth gave a laugh."Now we _definitely_ have reason enough."

x.x.x

Kina strode with purpose down the tall cubicles that her father's workers were stationed at, they crouched over computer screens working long into the night to keep power sources; water, light and such going. Some of them were so tired that they had to find a quick means to wake up more.

No one took notice as the young woman headed toward the back office in which there was but a very dim flicker inside. She readied herself and entered it.

"A kesha ta no?"_Have you returned with the Droid? _He asked with his back to her. His own blue one, 23,000, moved forward to offer her a tray of food chews. Though tempting, she waved the robot aside."Tish ta?"_Well, Kina?_

She removed the silver chip off."Yes, it will be ready for tommorow."

"Good."Archer said with a great breath of relief, the sixty-year-old man turned to her and she saw his green eyes were red and tired."It's been so long.I thought we would never find it,but after extensive research we finally found it in 1957."

"It was a very unadvanced time."Kina told him,twisting hair around one of her fingers boredly."But I did return with 7000 and the one he is bound to."

"Was it necessary to munipulate the person?"

"To an extent. He and 7000 are very..."she bit her tongue at such an insufferable word."_Close_, in more ways then one."

Archer smiled wearily, a spark of great interest entering his eyes."I've told you before,but the first 7000 droids we created were not made for our companionship, they are not like the droids we have today all of these years later."

"What about it?"She asked dead-pan, his historical tales had lost their charm long ago.

"Our droids today bond with us because they are programmed to."Archer turned back to his computer."But from what you have explained to me in your transmissions,Droid 7000 will cooperate only when convinced. Almost by free will?"

"Almost,"Kina muttered.

"Well,"he pressed a button arranged upon a brown keyboard,shutting off his computer so that the whole room went to shadows."With such great cooperation,we will be able to scan it's composition and begin work to..."

The older man stumbled a bit as he tried standing up.

"Careful."She said indifferently with her back to the wall,arms folded.

Archer turned to look at her through the small amount of light spilling in through a circular window, only the lower part of her face was exposed to him.

Not her eyes.

"I will check the readings."he told her in a steady voice."I will be able to see how much contact you had with anyone from that era, we allowed you to go so long as you did so without too much attention. Am I correct?"

"Father,do not worry over this. You will see 7000 tommorow."

"Kina."Archer took her wrist gently,saying a bit more sternly."My father set out to make a difference and protect us when our atmosphere was starting to fail and that is why we are the one of the last cities left now."

"I know."She said quietly.

"Please tell me you brought Droid 7000 and the young man at precisely the time you gained their trust, people from that time cannot ever know."

"I promise."

He released her."This is our last chance to get it right."

When her father had left along with his droid,Kina smiled lightly and went to re-activate his computer.A three-dimensional prototype shield covered half of their planet to stop against the bombardments of space asteroids.

His and all the scientists' plan were to use Droid 7000's nearly fully indestructible components,since he was now back,to make the shield. She looked over her shoulder to make sure she was alone before typing in a secret code.

Images of the Giant multiped by a thousand sprung up.

_It is too bad my plans differ._She thought, feeling slight unease at her deceit but it was only for the good of everyone on this planet.

Everyone of early Earth was going to pay for their failures.

"It was successful." Her golden-shelled droid came up from behind. "I have isolated it inside the facilites."

"7000 has no idea where it is."Kina asked scrupuously.

"Yes."

"That means that the boy he is associated with is now alone."

The thought that all of her work toward a perfect utopia succeding was possible was wonderful. She had managed to fool the newcomers, she had even managed to fool her own father who was too wrapped up in his work.

She stood."I will deal with Hogarth and his paramour on my own. Be sure that 7000 does not leave our grounds as morning will arrive in hours."

As they left,light from the outside closed in on a digitized calender.

May 6th,2200.Washington D.C. Alpha

To be continued...

**Quick note:**Yep,it's the ,the gang doesn't know soon.

LP


	9. How it once was, how it now is

**A/N:**Some things may seem a bit random,but everything will be important for later chs.

I.

Hogarth peered around a building to see two men dressed in wrinkled blue uniforms carrying a thick and rusted rod into what sounded like a garage for vechiles to be serviced. He waited until they went in before motioning forward.

"My guess is thats where they keep their scrap metal. But how do we get in?"

This question was even further complicated by two guards exiting the doors.

The Giant contemplated this a moment before scooping up Hogarth from off his shoulder and setting him on the ground. He then took his wrist and gave it a strong,firm jerk so that his hand snapped off from his arm in a single attempt.

"You dismembered yourself!"Hogarth gaped in shock.

"Watch."The Giant answered confidently and placed the hand down where it seemed to take on a life of it's own. The dark grey capped finger tips thumped the ground rompishly and the hand took off in the direction of the men as they were talking.

"Take a look at that."One of them commented as it approached.

"Have you ever seen anything like it?"

Hogarth kept looking back between them and the Giant before he witnessed the hand quickly vanish; that explained the last few days. The poor guards on the other hand began searching around frantically for it. They gave one another bewildered looks and went off in different directions.

"I get it,"he said to the Giant."You remember your powers,just not this place."

He appeared at ease with mentioning this as he took his hand when it reappeared before them to reattach it. The two approached the doors just before they closed with a resounding clank that mingled with the fairly noisy atmosphere from within. Hogarth held up the card that Kina had given him and tried to run it through the access slit;yielding zero results.

A quick scan around showed a giant square of material was placed down upon the ground as a sort of mat."Look at this big thing under us..."

The Giant picked it up as Hogarth explained."Try running it through the middle of these doors.I do it all the time when I have to get my bathroom unlocked."

With a strong shove inward and a sharp push down,the doors pried open and stayed in tact to reveal towering walls of fictional-looking and very sophisticated air,ground and submegable crafts. They all aligned endless walls in deep,enticing colors.

"Whoa,"Hogarth said in an astonished breath as he spun around slowly so as to take in the cavernous warehouse holding the displays."It looks like a comic book over the future and Hollywood gave birth in here. Check all this stuff out."

The Giant had other ideas as he reached up to pluck down a small, rather unimpressive aerial craft that was in a long line of others on the wall with the intentions of devouring it.

"Ahem,"he turned to Hogarth who had his hands on his hips."I'm not sure, but I'm thinking they have a 'You eat it, you buy it' policy and I'm sorta out of cash."

His disappointment showed as he placed it back onto the wall.

"Don't sweat it,buddy."Hogarth said sympathetically as he began searching around the place more."I'm sure with a place this size,they must have a storage shed for old scrap times one-hundred. Just gotta find it."When he looked away,the Giant ate it anyway.

Four days of staying hidden in Rockwell and a strong ---at this point ravenous--- appetite won out.

Hogarth continued down through the maze of otherworldly mechanics until he came across what appeared to be the center of the giant building.A large,tan hangar that rose up in oval columns held what appeared to be a rocketcar.

It was fashioned to somewhat like a muscle car with a groovy black and silver body that smoothed around in the front and had curling tail fins that looked as if they were flames at the back. There were obscure windows set slanted into the frame.

"Far out."Hogarth said as he climbed up the columns to get a better look.

"Far...out?"The Giant inquired, wholly engorging unimportant-looking crafts into his steam-shovel mouth when Hogarth had his back turned.

"It's like wig out, but in a good way."

He placed his thumbs to his temples and gave an animated double wave when Hogarth mentioned this.

"Yeah,"The teenager grinned broadly in rememberance."Only just the opposite."he looked back to the rocketcar a bit covertly.

The Giant noticed his secretive longing look; as well as someone else approaching them.

"I see you have fallen for this beauty."A young guy in his early-to-mid twenties said as he walked up to meet Hogarth near the top, with his unkept red hair and messy blue uniform he had the look of someone Hogarth worked with when he had worked a summer job at the local machanic shop."Do you wish for a test run?"

"For real?" He said, dismissing the similiarites. "Just like that?"

"My name is Trant."he caught Hogarth's hand in a fist hold and gave a type of handshake before letting go. "I see your droid's configuring data's at its peak."

"Right, Kina explained that..."Exactly all of what she had said was a little lost on him.

"She doesn't go into enough details."Trant laughed, folding his arms and sizing the newcomers up."This Motorix travels zero to five-hundred in nothing flat,it can go through all terrain and it's composition strength's only second to 7000."

"It doesn't have wheels though."Hogarth mentioned.

The mechanic's perplexed look said enough."What is a wheels?"he shrugged it off."Anyway, no droid's composition can withstand the Motorix. Until now."

"Wait,"Hogarth said, trying to comprehend."You want the Giant to turn into one of these things?"he made a subtle gesture over his shoulder.

"Yes."Trant replied unabashed and had to look up to stay eye level with him.

"Sorry, not interested then." Hogarth told the older man.

"Not optional, son."he replied back deftly."Trespassing and consuming one's weight in metal is serious."

Hogarth sent the Giant a sideways look to which he looked fairly guilitly down at his feet.

"Sorry..."He said honestly.

"We couldn't find the scrap room."Hogarth told Trant in his defense, though he knew he sounded incredibly lame.

A single one of these machines was probably enough to buy a state with.

"I could contact the authorites, kid."He countered roughly but finished with a very even,straight stare."_Or _you and your droid can test run my most sufficent machine a single time and the whole case will be forgotten. Your choice."

"He isn't some race car."

"_He_?"The older man shook his head."Well, you and 'him' owe me. Your droid readily complyed with your command so I do not see the problem."

Hogarth locked eyes with him."That was just my suggesting we leave,it _wasn't_ a command."

"Whatever you say, kid."

"I'll work an odd job tonight to pay you back,it's no big deal. Or maybe..."

"You both race or I turn you over."Trant told him.

"Hogarth."The Giant insisted, more then a little willing to make up for fifty-five pieces worth of property damage.

He planted his face in his hand."It doesn't sound like we have a choice."

"You do not, so let us begin."

Inspite of his objections, Hogarth agreed."Won't be the first time I have to work off a bill."he said to himself and to Trant firmly."One time and that's it."

"Not to worry, once is all it will take."

x.x.x

Trant locked in the grey motorix look-like in the racetrack route, the tubes stretched over many miles of oxygen-less earth and then right back into the D.C. Alpha port which was closed off by transparent air domes. In the day it was transportation for workers, at night it was a race track for local teens.

He coordinated the highway of pressure-resistent tubes from where he was stationed at,and was at work to position them for the current occupants. The twenty-five-year-old was set to launch when a transmission buzzed:

"Trant, this is Kina."her bossy voice rang out from his watch."I need to speak with you urgently. You know I have returned with one of 8000 original droids."

"So?"He asked simply as he twisted the tantalizing starter toggle idly."The mission isn't until tomorrow."

"Listen to me!Have you seen any signs of it?I am putting out a bullentin, they may have left the city."

"We will talk later."

"This is very serious, 7000 is extremely vital and I will not rest until it is found."

Trant slowly released up."You do that, Ki.I will let you know if I hear anything."he disconnected her and yanked the toggle up fully."And we go here in 10,9,8..."

x.x.x

The inside of the Giant reconfigured as a motorix felt strong and secure, firm and in control.

But that did not diminish Hogarth's opposition on the matter.

"This is ridiculous,"He muttered indignantly as he held two handle bars attached to shifts in order to speed up or slow down."You aren't just some mode of transportation.I mean, this is a loss of dignity."he used his forearm to move his racecar helmet up."I won't like _this-!"_

Anything else he might have said was ripped from his voicebox and drowned out by the full force of wind throttling him back against his seat, orbs of white marked each side of the dark tunnel that they sped down.

What made his heart really race was the low hang coming up."Whoa! Gonna die ,gonna die ,gonna die ,gonna die, gonna-"he found himself vertical and finished in stunned surprise."-not die?"

The Giant's face flashed by in a stream of electric blue on the ceiling.

Hogarth gave a quick gasp of relief before letting himself become at ease when he found himself horizontal again. He didn't like this but he allowed himself to let go and trust that whatever happened they were both in this together; literally. The two raced along the tracks,making turns in every degree.

All the exhilration ripped through Hogarth with staggering adrenline, streaming in as though he were in the world's fastest rollar coaster. The sensation sank away as they mounted a tall incline and were slowly gaining a last momentum.

"Okay, Giant." he whispered coaxingly. "Let's just have a nice, smooth end-_ing_!"

In a huge burst of speed, Hogarth felt himself shot up into the night sky where the weightlessness caught him for a moment. He felt as though all time had stopped and the only thing to remind him he was there were trails of excited tears that sprung from the corners of his eyes as they plunged back down into the tubular racetrack, took a tight swerve and felt everything go incredibly still.

He took a moment to catch his breath and stumbled out as a side hatch lifted up. It was deep into the night. Hogarth felt that they were far from the city they had been in, he took half a minute to look at the unforgettable scorch marks on the side of the Giant's motorix form and experienced an almost welcome feeling of discomfort --- this was not the way he wanted to treat his best friend again. Looking about, Hogarth saw all of the homes indistinguishible as there was very little light.

Aside from the familiar twin beams that shot down behind him, what appeared to be downward floodlights illuminated around what could have been a huge, roofed colosseum.

"_That _was far out." He commented up to the Giant as he pushed back his hair sticking up on end. "But I like it better when you aren't reconfigured."

"Me too." his bass voice came from the shadows. "But I don't mind, Hogarth."

Curious about their more open surroundings, the Giant carefully grazed his eyes to illuminate the run-down landscape.

"We don't know what'll happen tommorow," Hogarth told him. "but I have a feeling things will turn out for the better because of you."

He met Hogarth's eyes appreciatively.

That's when they noticed two small boys sitting down on a bench from their place upon the gravel road, Hogarth walked down the shoulder of thin grass and came around to face them. They were dirt-spotted and dressed in white suits.

_Mom would have a cow about them and Dean would school them in Individuality 101, _He thought to himself."It's pretty late out here, huh?"

"Yes."One answered meekly.

"We came here to play frix-ball,"The bolder of the two complained."But Andis says since we only have one pair of gravity sole shoes,we have to stay out."

"What do they help you do?"Hogarth prodded him,tapping his chin.

"Uh,help you jump high in the air to catch the frix-ball."He said rowdily before getting up."I think everyone who is anyone would know that. Let's go Tress."

The two boys stood up and nearly fell back when they saw the Giant.

"I think we can fix that height problem,"Hogarth told them as he stepped up on the lowered hand and waved for them to board."What do you guys say?"

"We're not allowed to play with droids."Tress informed him.

"Well,"he leaned a shoulder against the metal index finger."The way I see it you're already outside breaking the rules, why not try to make the most of it?"

Both boys looked at each other.

x.x.x

Taylor awoke to a pitch black room. For a moment she forgot where she was before it all came back to her in a flash. The mattress under her small frame contoured and seemed made to bring her into it;almost like it was made to trap her body.

Startled, she rolled out of bed and blindly made her way to the door with the access card as her only assurance that she could go if she liked. Taylor inhaled calmingly and slid the card through.

The access panel flashed blue and the doors slid sopen without a sound. She started down the hall,the abstract pictures along the wall catching her eyes now. They were of different shapes, people and foreign events, they looked almost hieroglyphical to Taylor.

She kept walking around a curve and a pale blue painting of what could have been a person met her eyes. The woman appeared to have a crown upon her head made of thorns, with intent eyes that tried to impress a message in her.

Taylor saw that the lady in the picture also help up a bustle of thorns in hand.

"You do realize what time it is, do you not?"

She whirled around to find Kina examining her coolly yet suspiciously.

"Oh, Kina!You startled me...sorry, I was just looking for the restroom."

"Of course, of course."Kina walked passed her, suddenly cordial."Follow me."

"I see you were admiring some of our history, you may or may not be surprised to learn that our knowledge of the past does not go beyond a few centuries."

Taylor's brows drew together as she asked."Why is that?"

"Well, Droid 7000 was made nearly sixty years ago. After the failed project of trying to stop meteors from desolating this planet with it's 8000 others, most of our history was destroyed from contient to contient. The mission then was to short circuit the droids while savaging what was left of our world. We suffered greatly."

"Didn't the droids suffer too?From what I can tell-"

"They are below us!"Kina snapped with her back turned to Taylor."Now,"she stopped and turned to face her with forced pleasantness."Here we finally are."

The doors slid open and the slim, pale girl motioned for Taylor to go in. She did so but slipped off her shoe when she noticed that the space inside what Kina called a 'restroom' was no larger then a broom closet. Taylor was then swiftly dealt a push between the shoulder blades.

"Sleep tight!"Kina gave a snorting cackle as the other girl pitched forward.

But she didn't have time to react when her victim spun around and struck the toe of her converse in the closing door. Both girls fought with it until Taylor gave Kina a square kick in the stomach as the door opened far enough. Kina had to move back to catch her breath, but wasn't able to as Taylor shoved her inside.

"I want to know what this place is called. Where have you taken us?"

Kina's long dark hair masked half her face when she looked up again."Why?"

"What _is _this place?"Taylor demanded as she struggled to hold the door open.

"Earth,"Kina answered nastily, adding with a sneering grin."Luckily I have lived _after _the mass extinction. Your future is going to be one of turmoil as you have already turned against me."

The doors slid shut and Taylor raced away down the hall.

Her silver communicater piece began to beep, but she quickly found out it was unattachable.

x.x.x

There was a general awestruck response when a giant robot landed down in the center of an enormous, rubber-padded stadium before a group of tweens of about eleven to fourteen. Hogarth approached them all in a casually confident manner.

"Could we borrow those?"he indicated their equippment.

They unreluctantly handed them to him. One of the boys stayed with the Giant to which Hogarth handed a sort of racket before hoisting Tress, the younger of the two, up on his shoulders and took the transparent gravity soles he gave him.

"Just stick them to the bottom of your shoes."

When everything was ready, both teams went to opposite ends of the court with the main objective in mind: Frix-ball was the equivalent of tennis except to score points you had to hit the ball on the opposing wall while defying gravity.

Hogarth gripped Tress's legs to make sure he didn't fall off."Hang on tight."

One of the older boys stepped forward,apparently mustering some courage.

"Um..." he looked to his white-clad friends who sent back approval."Ready...and..._Frix_!"

From the opposite side, a spiral of green formed on the boy's racket and came hurtling forward from where he was in the Giant's hand. Hogarth sprinted back in a side-stepping hustle while Tress kept shouting in his ear to kick up off the floor.

"I'm trying, but it's just not..."he tried a few times before he felt a jolting surge in his legs and was surprised to find himself airbound twenty feet up in the air.

Tress was able to bat the flickering green orb back to the other side, but it was quickly rebounded back to their side. Hogarth learned that the only way to try and keep up was to coordinate his movements so that he matched the Giant's.

Naturally he wasn't as fast in reflexes, but the extra spring in his jumps and the fact that he was the reigning ping-pong champion in his town helped; plus Hogarth had a feeling the Giant was letting the score stay even. The match kept going on with a gradual competitive edge beginnning to form now.

"Go!Go!Go!"Came hollering cheers from the sidelines.

"We're almost tied,"Tress told a slightly sweaty,panting Hogarth.

Their opposing team hadn't exhausted a bit.

"Final round."Andis,the leader of the older boys, announced solemnly."Serve!"

The Giant took a moment to figure something out before raising the kid in his hand up. He paused to look up at the frix ball forming and brought his arm up to it's highest extent before it was released. Hogarth kept the ball in his sight as he pushed up off the ground, but found it wiz just inches above their reach.

He met the Giant's daring gaze with a determined one of us own and whispered a plan up to Tress who grinned down at him. The frix ball hit their wall and hurtled to the other side, where it was served back to them. Hogarth took that time to move Tress higher.

"Ready?"

"Yes."He replied,crouched down with his feet now on Hogarth's shoulders.

For the last move,Hogarth went running backwards while slightly turned when he jumped. Now air-borne, he pivoted around and kicked off the rubbery wall. Tress jumped over him and into his arms so that he could be tossed.

The boy batted the emerald spectural away successfully as it fizzled out in a sign the game was over. Hogarth landed with his feet skirting on the floor and fell to his bottom,but was able to catch Tress who beamed victorously up at him with his dimpled face.

"We did it!"

"Yeah, we did."He held up his hand."Here, clap my hand. It's called a high five."

Everyone else moved forward in order to talk to them.

"You two have to come around more often."One said to Hogarth and the Giant eagerly."We could make the play-offs with you both. And Ven, Tress..."he gave the young boys an approving nod."You guys show up tommorrow for training."

Hogarth folded his arms when he saw he'd been successful at gaining the older boy's approval."Time for home?"

They all gave half-hearted or indifferent replys at his suggestion, but turned to exit anyway. He looked up at the Giant who seemed to be growing rather tired.

"Don't tell me it's time to turn in for the night already-"he stifled a yawn."Well,I guess maybe it wouldn't hurt to take it easy. What'd you say we head back...?"

x.x.x

Halfway back to the city,the Giant had had to stop and rest. After the towering buildings in the city and the suburban homes where they had met those two boys, Hogarth was surprised to find a grassy field and an open starry skyscape.

"...So than Dean and my mom had Julie,"he was saying as they lay out under the night, shoulder-to-shoulder."And I became an older brother. When she was real little,I use to tell her stories about you. Some were made up."

The Giant gave him a quizzical look with his hands resting on his stomach, to which Hogarth turned with his hands clasped behind his head."Nothing bad or anything, but you can't always keep telling the same story over and over. It didn't matter anyway,"he shook his head in memory and looked straight ahead."After she got sick I stopped telling her..."

He felt the Giant's eyes on him so he kept going."She's all right now, but at the time Mom didn't want Julie to hear about things she hadn't seen. All of us had to start watching out for her to protect her in case she ever got hurt."

"I went too far with it one time."Hogarth admitted, inferring the time he had knocked a boy out for pushing his crippled sister."But, no matter how bad things got Julie always believed what I told her."he absently pulled out the teleporation device from his back pocket along with the drawing of the Giant he had sketched yesterday.

"Ever since that day seven years ago, people started expecting a lot out of me. It was great for a while ,"He sighed and admitted softly."Sometimes, I just don't believe I'm good enough."

Without warning, two large metal fingers reached down to take the tip of the paper and bring it up. Hogarth watched as the Giant peered closely at it before returning it to him, when he spoke it was with an unconditional certainity.

"_Good_ enough."

Hogarth smiled at that.

"So what about you?"

"Hmm?"

"What have you done all this time?"He had wondered this for years.

The Giant took a moment to think before pointing up resonantly to the sky ablaze in streams of silver.

"Um...looked at stars?"

"Looked at...souls."

Hogarth frowned a little, trying to understand his meaning."Well, stars are sort of like souls. They both live for a very long time."he tried his best at explaining.

"Stars not souls?"

He turned to look straight into the Giant's seeking eyes, saying reaffirmingly to him."Souls aren't something you can see, but that doesn't mean they don't exist."

The Giant's shutters grew together as Hogarth went on."You have to believe that they're there, it's called faith."he could feel the conviction in this, as he had always felt ,but he also felt the time gap that was between him and the Giant.

They were the same in some ways, but very different in others. In a unspoken way he felt as though he had unintentionally crushed an untangible piece of the Giant's world by telling him this. For that while things had been almost as they had been seven years ago, but Hogarth knew that reality was beckoning.

As was the brim of dawn rising in the far east. He sensed the Giant sitting up and turned to see that he had his hand down waiting for Hogarth to get on.

"You're right, it's time to get back."He said matter-of-factly as they watched the orange sun peering into the horizon."I just thought of something. Whenever we get back, maybe you and Julie could meet."The Giant smiled down at him.

Nothing could ever destroy what they had.

To be continued...

A/N:I know it was long,but everything will be essential for the next chapters.


	10. The turning point

I.

May 7th 1964...

Morning sun beams went to shed in bursts of gold through the vast layout of thick,bustling green trees, and down in a wide arc across the McCoppin's front porch. Trisha Evans stood braced against the railing with coffee cupped in her hands. The single and foremost thought on her mind was her daughter: Taylor.

_Where_ was she?

"Come on,Mama!We'll be late."Julianne's voice called from inside.

"Wait for me, don't run."

When the thirty-seven-year-old woman looked to the door,she saw the little girl make her way out steadily upon her silver crutches. Her soft raven hair fell in slightly unruly curls at the shoulders of her yellow and white pinafore dress.

"Good morning."She smiled brightly up at Trisha."Don't worry,they'll be back."

"That's very reassuring, hon."Was her truthful reply.

"Hogarth and the Iron Giant we'll make sure of it."

Trisha smiled down at her kindly, automatically playing along."Thank you."

Annie suddenly appeared at the door in uniform and sent her daughter a look for mentioning an apparently off-limits topic. She shrugged it off with an immodest apology, and continued down to where the old truck was parked at.

"I'm sorry for that,"Mrs. McCoppin said,embarrased."She's just staying positive."

The thought was admirable.

Trisha nodded in understanding."It's perfectly fine. In a way she reminds me of Taylor at that age."

"Then let's hope they never become too well-acquainted."

Both women exchanged looks and gave a polite laugh at that.

"Mama."Julie called out testily from the passenger's seat.

"I'll be fine waiting here with your husband."Trisha assured her. _I can't believe she's so trusting._

"Shieff Rhinestien is having a search party sent out,"Annie reminded not so much her guest as she was reminding herself."and I'm just one call away..."

"Go on ahead,I'll be by the phone."

The sound of gravel being ground into the earth sent a hopeful rush that was just as quickly dashed with the arrival of a strange black Chevy Malibu pulling onto the right side of Annie's truck, Trisha left her place by the railing to walk out to the vechile.

"Rob?"She asked as her brother,a large man with thinning white hair,appeared.

"Trisha,"he nodded to her deliberately."You ladies may want to step inside."

Another man that Trisha recognized as Daniel Barnes stepped out as well.

"Dan?"She noted aloud.

The man tipped his hat.

"Trisha?"Annie questioned her as Daniel passed around the truck.

"It's all right, Dan is Taylor's English teacher and Rob here is my brother."

"We need to step inside now, Trisha."Robert waved them in that direction.

Annie went to collect her daughter and the men followed them into the house.

"Do you know anything on Taylor?"

Robert did not tell her yes or no, he simply held the door open for her.

II.

May 7th 2200,Washington Alpha...

Kina rounded the halls at her father's side, she had exchanged her preferred plum-colored shawls for a form-fitting blue jumpsuit that all ten million of the scientists were required to wear to distinguish them from the Omega groups.

Washington Omega, she kept going over in the depths of her conspiring mind, was the other key element that was going to make her mission successful. That girl Taylor was hardly what she considered a threat,but there was still a problem.

Droid 7000 and Hogarth were no where to be found.

"35,000 is leading 7000 out, correct?"Archer inquired his daughter critically.

She gave him a single nod, saying reposedly."They will arrive on the outskirts of the city as planned and we can begin the process, not to worry over, Dad."

"This is our final chance, Kina." he told her solemnly, the wrinkles in his square face deepening as he reminded his daughter, "If we do not succeed it may start a riot."

_There will not be one, so long as 7000 arrives, there is only calculated victory._

The other scientists looked to the tall, slim girl expectantly.

"Well?"A lead scientist questioned her firmly.

"Have I ever disappointed you?" She asked them, adding a note of hurt to her voice.

As the doors slid open to let in the sun,Kina did something she hadn't done in years. She reached out and grasped her old father's big,keyboard crippled hand.

Hands that had spent hours on end designing the shield prototype.

"Everything will turn out all right, Father."she told him."7000 will be there."

_35,000 better have found it and that boy._

Archer's radiating smile at her as they stepped out caused a small wedge of rare doubt to surface inside of her throat, but Kina did not have time to think anymore on that matter as legions of blue-suited people were spread out before them all.

She had a 250-year-old mission to complete.

x.x.x

Washington DC. Omega...

Hogarth couldn't keep his eyes away from the people dressed in full-body white that were below them, clustering around the ramshackled homes that he'd seen back on his planet. The entire ground was vastly blanketed out into the horizon.

"Back to the city?"

He turned from peering out from between the Giant's semi-clasped fingers and up into his eyes."Yeah, they probably have a landing strip there waiting for us."

They were about four-hundred-feet in the air flying, the day had dawned a deep and cloudless blue that touched the outreachs of white-cladded citizens turning their faces to the sky to watch the Giant; Hogarth imagined that seeing him was like a beckon of hope. He knew this because he too had felt that way as well.

The crowds of white suddenly ended with a transparent wall coming on. It happened so fast that Hogarth and the Giant looked to each other wondering if it would open up in time, when they found themselves over a mass body of azure.

"Looks like the whole population showed up."Hogarth commented a bit warily.

He had guessed correctly that there was a sort of landing strip not far from the edge of the transparent concave, the Giant took his time to see no stray persons got caught under one of his enormous feet, and evenly coasted on downwards.

People began chattering wildly, causing the Giant to look around in wonder while Hogarth kept his attention set to the ground when beneath them it began to give off a round of vibrations and they both watched as a large, tan podium rose from the large track of landing strip. It descended at each level on both sides for a count of six.

"Here,"The Giant moved Hogarth up to his shoulder where it was more stable.

He made the quick transition and they waited until the podium ceased it's rumbling rise.

"If this is their idea of a grand entrance, I'd hate to see what they have in mind for an exit."

The people assembled upon it looked highly intelligent, as though they could see into his mind."Welcome friends,"a man situated toward the top greeted them in a voice that travelled over the populace."I am Archer, head scientist of this city."

Everyone fell to a hush.

"I am speaking to you, 7000."he continued cordially."and you as well, Hogarth. We have waited years for your return, to actually see you is an honor."

"You may converse freely with my father."Kina's voice resounded into the air.

Hogarth noticed her at Archer's left side, looking both elegant and professional.

The Giant gave Hogarth a recalling look before facing them."Why am I here?"

All of the citizens seemed to take a step back at his deep voice, somehow they appeared quite entranced by him;as if he were a larger-than-life hero. Hogarth then remembered,and it cast him into wonder, was he as appreciative enough as these people were? Definitively, the Giant actually _was _a larger-than-life hero.

"Your designs are believed to range back some three-hundred years ago.I am well informed that you are unfamiliar with your existance and I am more then just willing to tell you since you have travelled this far."Archer explained to him, opening the floor for negoitations.

"Years ago, we drilled for metal deep within our planet's crust and yours just so happens to come from that molten substance. The droids of today are made of much less durable material. But what truly sets you apart from them all, 7000 ,is your free will."

The Giant asked his next question dauntlessly."Why am I made a weapon?"

There was a very breath-taking pause and Hogarth acutely picked up on the citizens' fear.

"That remains a mystery to us,"Archer told him, keeping eye contact."We discovered your designs deep within this city and you were built along with your 8000 others one life-time ago. The weaponary our anscetors placed in you was to target the on-coming debris that would fall onto our planet, what your weaponary was _originally _designed for is unknown."

People now exhaled more easily.

"You were re-designed as a source of protection for us,not as a weapon."

"You didn't make me to be a-a gun?"It was another loaded question, but then it was not.

"No. It is obvious you were made for war, but by who is not known to us."

Hogarth felt more grounded when the Giant turned to look at him to speak,this reminded and assured him that they were both still on equal footing, though it did not completely escape his mind."How is The Giant able to transform?"he asked him.

"Nuclear transmutation. Interestingly enough 7-err-the Giant was never made to do this. He would have had to come in contact with a massively nuclear substance."Archer started going off in an excited pattern of speech." It is _astonishing. _Our droids were made to transmute with us if we so allowed it, but your friend here was never designed to do this..."

Hogarth looked right through him in painful memory and said quietly."The missle."This was getting to be a little too much.

When he snapped back to reality he saw the Giant looking at him concernedly, it was a subject they hadn't even hinted at touching upon. To conceal his feelings on the matter,Hogarth looked away and crossed his arms-he could never know.

The Giant could never know how that event had truly affected him.

"Hogarth...?"His voice was imploring.

"I'm fine."He said, almost curtly.

"Any more questions before we begin?"Kina inquired them. A total slence caused Hogarth to look to see an outline of deep gray was out in the distance behind the tall podium, but this was not the cause for the halt in speaking.

Instead,a low hum that emitted out in waves caused everyone to look in that general direction.A woman aboard a quick,efficent little white scooter curved in a delicate airborne arc up to the top near Archer and spoke in a hushed hurry.

"What?"Came his heavy, shocked voice."How-how can this be?We checked the grid many times. It is surely impossible that the system could be hacked."

"We analyzed the fingerprints,"the woman's voice now echoed, apparently she was behind the speaker Archer had been behind."It came from your computer."

"But my plan...it was _not _to duplicate more droids of 7000!My-my prototype-"

"-has been erased."Kina finished for him,her gaze never swayed from staring off into the distance."You would be surprised how much persuasion you get across to 'humble' and 'traditional' people."she nodded to 35,000 who appeared at her left shoulder."You may contact the citizens in Omega who are ready to go now."

Panicked voices began erupting, it was obvious this was unplanned for.

"Kina!"Archer clasped the podium in restraint."What is the meaning of this?"

"I'm going back to the past,"Kina turned to her father to smile patiently in the face of his downfall."and I am taking those I feel do not oppose me."she walked up to him and he backed into the wall of his stand."I will not be stopped now."

Everyone went hetic at her treason.

Hogarth spotted someone in a multi-colored shirt running towards them amid all the startling revelations, the Giant lowered his hand just in time for her to leap upon it as he quickly became focused on not stepping on people as they rushed by in a frenzy. Taylor quickly relayed to them on what she knew.

"Everything's going under."

"You could say that again."Hogarth said,feeling somewhat light-headed.

"There's something else,"Taylor took him by the shoulders to garner every last bit of his attention."Hogarth,"she said frightenedly, yet firmly."This place...it has no government, the city is divided in two and no form of justice system exists."

"How do you know all of this?"

"I asked the woman on the scooter,she recovered Kina's little conspiracy plot as soon as everyone left for this ceremony. She was suppose to monitor the program to scan the Giant's data when she happened across it. You won't believe-"

"I will." He assured her, grave now."What else, Taylor?And how'd you get here?"

Tears collected softly in her light brown eyes as Hogarth's hands emcompassed her tiny face, his rough-skinned thumbs pressed gently into her smooth cheeks.

"Where are we?"

"Earth."She whispered emotionally."That's why we moved to Rockwell,my uncle in Ashmore wanted me to keep an eye on you.I never thought it'd go this far..."

A loud explosion caused their attention to divert toward what Hogarth saw was the motorix, it's silver and black coat gleamed in the sun. Hogarth nearly fell out of the Giant's hand when he saw Trant step out of the side-hatch and approach them.

He was oblivious to the pandemonium.

"We'll be taking our leave for your century soon, first I did not receive the chance to fully scan 7000's components when he transformed into the motorix."

"What?"Hogarth said lamely.

Trant sniggered at his expression."Not to worry, I did not scan enough of it to duplicate 7000 a million times over as Kina is going to.I just need to scan 7000's components once more to complete my own personal version of 7000,all right?"

He spoke as if he were explaining a complex game to them in simple terms.

"Is that too complicated for you?"

"You used us."Hogarth stated in a low,angry voice.

"That is what droids and simple people such as yourselves exist for."

"My God,what have you done Trant!"

"Watch,my droid will only be powerful enough once 7000 is out of the way."

The motorix reconfigured in a matter of seconds into a far more updated version of the Giant, it was well-armored as well as high-tech. With no warning,it lifted it's arm and pointed straight at the Giant's forehead. Hogarth felt his heart rise into his throat as a shining cylinder retracted out in place of the giant hand.

It was a giant gun.

"What's going on?"Taylor broke the stunned moment for them all.

Hogarth wasn't sure,but he thought he saw red at the corner of his eyes.

x.x.x

"Hold on,"The Giant looked immediately away and cupped his charges securely within his palms, projecting a forcefield around them as he took flight in a roar of flame. With seven years of no problems with his weaponary, he was certain they wouldn't activate. That didn't mean, however, that he had conquered them.

The Giant would never take the chances of something happening again. **_Never_.**

x.x.x

Rockwell,Maine...

"I can't tell you which branch of government we work in,"Daniel Barnes said to the three adults situated across the table from them."What I can tell you is our department has been working in secrecy on what happened here back in '57."

Dean and Annie exchanged looks.

"We aren't concerned over that incident anymore."Dean told him point-blank.

The man nodded."I can see that. Miss Evans,"he turned to Trisha."You are not aware of exactly what it is that caused you to lose your job in New Jersery."

"I beg your pardon."

"It's all right."Her brother said reassuringly to her.

"What is going on, Rob?"

"A matter greater then national security,"he explained."We believe that the robot who acted as a sort of anti-ballistic missile seven years ago is from a line of robots that will be manufactured hundreds of years from now. The man who designed them is in custody as of right now."

"These robots were designed with a defense mechanism,right?"Dean inquired.

"Yes,"Daniel confirmed,very impressed with his insight."But they have yet to even be made. The creator has sworn that his relatives will carry on his legacy in the future."

"The robots' productivety ceased seven years ago,"Robert said."Directly around the time your robot arrived here. We believe it is a completed version designed in America to be a last line of defense against the USSAR along with 8000 others just like itself..."

"...The Iron Giant came from the future,"Annie summed up,a bit too stunned to do much of anything but talk."and someone is going to use it against communism...against Russia. Is that right?"

"It is, to an extent. Our department has undergone research to suggest that the scientists have been munipulated into _believing_ it is for the U.S. "Daniel said solemnly."Russian immigrant and top-knotch engineerist Sergey Dimelo has been apprehended for misleading our developers, his family is gone and the only way we are even aware of the future is because the Iron Giant landed here in our time. Why? We aren't sure. It came before Dimelo's production began and ended in '57."

"And Dimelo is a hardcore communist?"Dean asked.

"Yes, he had convinced an incarcerated federal agent into joining him against the U.S. Dimelo is a known and formerly trusted United States citizen. An immigrant."

"It's crash-landing from the future seven years ago is under much speculation."Robert said.

"_His _crash-landing on Earth."Dean corrected.

Annie looked over at her husband's keen sense of detail."A day in the life of us."she almost laughed.

"Is my daugther a part of this? Is she in on this, Rob?"Trisha asked.

Robert gave her a sad, sincere look."We never expected it would go this far."

The table shook as she stood abruptly, angrily."Where is she!"

"Considering all that has been gathered,we believe she is in the future."

"All of them." Daniel concluded.

Trisha stormed out of the house."Utter shit!"

"Who else knows about this?" Dean asked the men as Annie went to assist the other woman.

Robert looked after his sister and sighed."Mr. McCoppin, we are credible and respected men in our department. But if we were to take this to a higher power,even with the partial truth, our crediblity would wan more than one of your town's crusty old fishermen."

x.x.x

Kina climbed into the crook of the ten-foot-tall golden robot's arm and settled in to watch the chase ensue between Trant Mansley Morgan's droid and the droid who claimed to possess free will. Predictably, it was amusing the way he attempted to flee.

"He will resist his programming, but he cannot."35,000 commented.

"_It _cannot." Kina said, elbowing her droid in the neck."now descend this platform and let us watch events unfold. We must gather our followers in Omega."

"It has begun?" 35,000 inquired eagerly,it's voice not so automated now.

"Get moving."

To be continued...


	11. Strength in resistence: Part 1 of 2

**A/N:** You want some intenseness, you got some intenseness. ;)

I.

Robert gazed over at his sister as she clutched herself to the porch pole, it looked as if she thought it would alleviate all the burden she was now faced with. He couldn't blame her, personally he would have reacted even angrier.

"Promiscuity isn't the answer, it's not going to take away the pain."

"You're just like my baby,"she softly cried. Partly out of spite, partly because it was out of fondness."Taylor could find humor even in the worse of siutations."

Her brother came over to her,wrapping his arms around her shoulders to pull her next to his chest."My niece agreed to keep an eye on Hogarth,"he gave a deep breath."That was all. She didn't know about the future,just the robot..."

"If you still expect me to buy into this B-movie malarkey, you're crazy."

"Her humor is more like yours,Trish."Rob smiled down at her solacingly.

Trisha raised her grey-brown eyes to meet his hazel ones."Is it a cover-up?"

"It has to be. The boy's father, Johnston Hughes, had minor connections in the time he served the Air Force. _We're _the ones who were sent to deal with this."

"You aren't making this up,Robbie?"She asked him, nearly pleading.

"No,"he took his hands away,careful not to graze her bust."I wish it were."

"What now?"She pulled her trench coat around her exposed mid-driff.

"We get you and the McCoppin's to safety, some of Dimelo's agents may be here soon."Rob took her slendor wrists in his hands."I'm sorry about this, but there is a crater that's just outside townlimits. We think it's his descendents."

"They're not aliens then?"Was her sarcastic reply."Maybe they're _friendly _like this Iron Giant I have heard so much about. Klaatu frigging nikto and such..."

Daniel Barnes suddenly appeared with the McCoppin's. He looked very much in control and, as always, was not the type for sympathy. Robert watched as he ushered the female portion over toward the vechiles and received compliance.

Mostly.

"Do what you wish."Trisha said in a low voice,turning back to hug the pole.

"It isn't safe here, Trisha."Robert told her in firm calmness.

"Welcome to real life, Robert. Safety is a luxury in the adultworld."

He admired that his sister fought to maintain all the dignity she still had left, but this was not her fight to win and there was just simply not time to argue.

They watched as Annie took her daughter toward the Black Malibu.

"Mama,where are we going?What if Hoggie comes back and we're gone?"

"Shh. Don't ask questions."

Daniel came to face the stubborn woman on the opposite side of the pole.

"You'll have a much better chance of seeing Taylor again by coming with us."

The car door opened and slammed."Never."she stated with it's closing force.

A few more minutes of no success passed and the men forcibly escorted her to the car, with her kicking and fussing the entire time; Dean held the door open to the truck's passenger side as they placed the thrashing woman in.

"Robert Elliot, let go of me!"Trisha fought and struggled in total desperation against their careful yet strong hold on her arms."You're wrong!That acursed boy probably abducted Taylor,"she was sat inside and said in a sobbing voice.

"She's not like me, my daughter is _not _a runaway slut like me."

"He was rapist."Robert said as he closed the door and she looked down.

"And I allowed him to take advantage of me."

Dean caught Robert's arm and bore a look of steel into his eyes.

"Don't give me a reason to distrust you."he placed the keys in his hands.

x.x.x

Dean crossed the yard to the passenger's door of the glossy black Malibu and looked back toward the house, he had many thoughts on his mind but there wasn't time to waste concentrating on any one of them. Except for just one.

_Kiddo, IG, you both stick together. Wherever you guys are, be that girl's protectors._

x.x.x

The city in the daytime was one of imaginable industrial development. If it had been at any other time, Hogarth would have found it worth gazing upon. But that was not the case. He found himself pressing Taylor to his body as the Giant flew very helter-skelter through the vast network of towering, reinforced grey buildings.

"I don't think it's following us," he called out to him through the full rush of the wind, his metal hands inclosed everything except a slit opening."Slow down."

There was a low,whistling noise and the Giant clenched his teeth against a hit to what Hogarth thought was his left leg - he peered on down inside at him.

"Or speed up, whichever works best." Hogarth winced.

"Why doesn't the Giant just attack back?"Taylor whispered to him logically.

Hogarth looked down at her from where she lay against him, his body was long enough and the hands were drawn together enough so he only had her frightened face to see as the sun refracted in snatchs across the two of them.

He ducked her down and wriggled up to squeeze through the narrow space of the hands. The Giant took one look at him, and directed Hogarth back into his safeguarding palms with a quick,firm glance. Steadily, he emerged halfway up.

"This isn't doing us any good." Hogarth said to him and his sight beheld what he hoped they had lost; the Motorix. It was swooping in and out of all the big buildings,it's magnificent silver barrels braced to it's chest like glinting swords.

The Giant met his eyes expectantly when he looked back."Well, Hogarth?"

"I've got an idea." he said assuredly.

The Giant gently thumbed his friend back inside, but lowered the side of his head down to listen. He stayed that way half a minute until it looked like the last of the citizens were boarding little white gliders down below for the large evacuation taking place, and then he looked back at his flame roaring feet.

The Motorix lifted it's enormous cannon so the hole was directed straight at the Giant's eyes. He immediately aligned his left foot with the black circle as it formed a terrifyingly silent vortex of dark green. The Giant did not wait to hear if it would make a sound as he detached his foot going at six hundred in hour.

Hogarth was able to catch a glimpse of the foot spinning out of control into the cannon - knocking the cannon clean off the unexpecting robot. The Giant made a clear diagonal dip into a mass of buildings scaling a few hundred feet.

They stayed alert for the next couple of minutes, no one saying or doing much of anything aside from escaping. The Giant finally released a gentle breath as he allowed his remaining afterburner to carefully guide them down to a corner of buildings. He sat down between them and folded his large hands flat open.

"Brilliant."Hogarth said in disgust, glaring off into the distance before giving the others an apologetic look."I'm sorry I've landed all of us into this mess."

"Well, we're here."Taylor stood up and began pacing the Giant's hands,saying as she did."If we leave, where to? If we try to go home, how do we plan to?"

"Any ideas?"Hogarth asked the Giant who returned a mutual look to him.

"His weapons," Taylor brought up the point Hogarth wished she would let die.

"Taylor,don't." he groaned.

"Why not?" She went on, evidently fully unbriefed on this unwanted subject."I mean, he was made for self-defense. There's nothing wrong with defending."

Hogarth met the Giant's strict white eyes. "No, Hogarth."he refused calmly.

Yet firmly. Hogarth nodded as he held his gaze understandingly."I know,pal."

Taylor looked between the two."I'd have to have been there?"she asked.

"You'd have to have been there."Hogarth answered.

The sounded of metal being blasted relentlessly up ahead brought them all to attention - what made it all the more frightening was no lasers charging up.

"Calm, quiet yet very efficent and deadly."Taylor spoke softly.

They gave her odd looks in return.

"I read a lot of books."she said.

"And I read a lot of comic books."Hogarth remarked, not wanting to get trivial.

A deep, voluminous rumble rocked their nook of buildings. The Giant stood up and quickly moved them to his left shoulder,pressing his huge iron-solid body into the structure to try stablizing them. Hogarth could see from a crease in his index and middle finger a stray furturistic scooter lying down on it's side...

Along with the gut-clenching sight of a familiar golden robot approaching.

"Giant!" Hogarth rushed urgently to the other side, not stopping even as he got entangled with an impatient Taylor. "Do you think that you can outfly that flashy knock-off of Trant's with one foot?" he asked as the rumbling stopped.

The Giant nodded confidently."I can make it."

"Oh, God." Taylor backed into Hogarth automatically.

"Well, well." Kina smiled up at them from 35,000's arm."Lovely day so far."

"Back off!" Hogarth balked out at her, pulling Taylor behind him in one jerk. He stalked forward and the Giant almost lowered him as he glared down at them frostily."Trant got his racecar," he shouted down."Tell us all how to go home!"

A low,creaking-almost churning- noise caused them to all look skyward. The building was slowly collasping foward. Reacting on instinct, the Giant pressed them down to his chest and did a gigantic shoulder-sommersault to the side.

When Hogarth looked up he noticed that the antenna in the Giant's head had sprouted out, and that's when he realized that the repair signal only became active when the Giant didn't repair himself quickly; the foot came hopping up.

"This is your new home," Kina informed them lightly as 35,000 stepped onto the fallen building and the Motorix, with Trant occupying his place of 'honor' atop a secure seating on it's shoulder, appeared before the three of them.

"Or grave." he snapped his fingers and the large cannon swerved down to the Giant's face, to which he ceiled his shutters and looked away in refusal."I hate to fight an unwilling opponent. Be honorable, 7000. Stand and fight me."

The Giant still did not look.

The Motorix slowly let it's cannon fill full of it's jade-colored fuel when it was dealt a thwacking blow by one of the buildings. Hogarth and Taylor watched as the Giant used it as effortlessly as if it were a baseball bat, the strong and jiggling vibrations coasting up his arm. Hogarth had to hold on to Taylor then.

The Motorix had it's other cannon, but it did not go after the other; It did not even look over at it's missing limb once. Trant gave his other hand a snap and it moved over to retrieve it with the vibrations still holding strong recurrency.

"We-we're out-out maaatched." Taylor's voice was a wobble of words.

He clutched her hands just as the vibrations stopped, and kept his eyes with hers as the Giant rose to his feet with debris falling off of him to face them all.

"Stop." The Giant looked the golden droid square in the eyes.

35,000 raised her eyes to his. "No." she said simply and raised both arms.

"Everything I've done-" Hogarth stared Taylor dead-set in the eyes, he did not see her lower lip quiver."- _we've _done, has been for the sake of this place..."

The Giant looked down at him, partly to avoid looking at the cannons and at Hogarth's finalty. It alarmed him so much he immediately brought them up to his eyes just as 35,000's cannons were loading. Hogarth readily met his eyes.

"Please protect her." he said solemnly. "and lower me down."

"Hogarth-" The Giant started to argue in his bass tone.

"Whatever it takes, Giant. You have to trust me."

He complyed with his friend's request who dashed out to the fallen building, the Giant coped with Taylor's screaming and the sight of Hogarth leaving. But if 35,000 directed that cannon on Hogarth, he was ready to fully intercept it-

With only his body.

"Hogarth!" His remaining passanger called at the top of her lungs.

"Hey!" he called out to the golden droid, waving his arms around just as the beams of energy balloned out and the Giant's shutters rotated bright red. As soon as he was aware of this, he peered back and forth. To watch Hogarth...

...but to also watch 35,000; she made sure her cannons followed his eyes.

The Giant, trusting Hogarth and knowing his best chances at survival was if they departed, took off at full throttle speed clear over the Motorix's head. It did not waste any time and took off after him at a headlong, one-way speed.

"Come on, Goldie Glocks." Hogarth stepped around the building, motioning it towards him. "You know you've wanted a shot at me," he taunted it."So give me one."

"You are not that simple-minded." Kina said, mildly irrtated. "No matter." she pointed her finger at him and 35,000 simultaneously directed right at Hogarth.

"Like handler, like gun."

"Your droid is top gun."

"You're wrong, but only in one meaning of the word."

"Do not work yourself up, your droid is so very 'special'." Kina wrinkled her nose at the word,crinkling her paste white face in exaggeration." He can only transmute because of his encounter with that missle from your time, correct?"

"Be quiet."Hogarth muttered, knowing she knew she had struck a nerve.

"...while my _girl_ droid can nuclearly transmute _naturally._"

"_This_ thing,"he held up the teleportation device and threw it without a single glance over his shoulder."I was never going to use it, it's probably explosive."

"Shut your mouth, Hobarf. Your death was planned the moment we met , it is the only way to fully utilize all of Droid 7000's-"she paused."Do you fear us?"

"My name is Hogarth McCoppin-Hughes, his name is The Iron Giant and I fear no one but God."

Kina gave him a clueless look at that name.

"You want me,"Hogarth finished his walk and seized the porcelain white glider by the handle,jerked it up and straddled it like a motorcycle. He sent them a little smirk as he started it up."You trigger-happy bitches have to catch me first..."

The sounds of 35,000 transforming reached his ears.

"Let's rock this city."

_Washington D.C. Omega. _Hogarth thought with a twinge of pain for America. _No government, no democracy, no one aside from us willing to fight for freedom. _A single tear trickled down his cheek as he took off for the one part of the city that had decided upon betraying whatever freedom had still been perserved.

Unseen by them, Hogarth's blow-by-blow sketch of the Giant had landed right under the seemingly faulty teleporter. But Hogarth, engrossed in speeding to the city, failed to notice it was left behind. It rose with a sharp undercurrent of air and struggled to follow after him; the teleporter covered up his two letters.

As his name was written up at the right-hand corner.

The H. O. of Hogarth was concealed, leaving only the name Garth visible.

The teleporter vanished with the sketch of the Giant waving strong in the air.

Rippling and billowing not unlike a flag.

Rockwell,Maine. The vacated McCoppin/Hughes residence. May 8th 1964...

"It looks as though we were successful." Dimelo crossed the porch in a sharp and long-legged stride." I left my children instructions to have a parcel in the future sent to me, and low and behold." he held up the teleporter and looked at the just recently clean-shaved man with mocking amusement."Mr. Womanly?"

Mansley held the sketch.

"This _thing_," Kent glared at the Giant bitterly and at Hogarth's name."and that damn kid took everything from me."he crumpled the drawing up in a tight fist.

"Not to worry," Dimelo assured him. "Our great-grand children will be here."

"Now that I have more proof." he ripped the sketch in half. "My worry is over."

To be continued...


	12. Strength in resistence: Part 2 of 2

**A/N:** These next chapters will have some stronger content in them, but nothing will be too graphic.

Taylor held on for dear life as wind whipped wildly through her hair and sent it scattered across her face. The Giant had her cupped in his hands and was letting her wrap her arms around his thumbs, but it was hardly enough to keep the sixteen-year-old from feeling like her head was about to snap off in the pressuring pursuit.

"Okay?" He asked down to her with a quick, evaluating glance.

"Um, well...sure." Taylor tried to assure him through a wave of queasiness.

When she looked up at him her small face was a sickly pale, causing him to give his shutters an uneasy squint at her discomfort. But the anomally of screeching metal from noiseless cannon blasts made him keep at his pace; he allowed her to stretch out on her back and lay flat. Taylor then opened her eyes and said to him.

"Your weapons are the only way." She was very grave. "It's self-defense, Giant."

One of the attacks connected on his ankle, jostling them.

The Giant gritted his teeth against the pain, and her logic. "No!" he seethed.

"We'll die!" Taylor cried in a frustrated retaliation. The Giant opened his eyes from where his elbow was dug into a crumpled building he had apparently drove into in his steadfast refusal, and then looked at the steadfast girl. "_Please, _we don't ha-"

Another soundproof explosion and Taylor fell from his hands, the Giant was able to clasp onto her jeaned leg as another explosion hit and she sucked in a breath. At that moment , dangling twelve stories high, Taylor knew better then to argue.

"Out of sight." The girl whispered in awe mingled with terror. "Wait...that's it!"she braced herself when the Giant brought her up to his eyes." Listen to me, I have-"

"I will _not _be a gun." He told her obstinately, his full anger very well managed.

Taylor gulped hard, but spoke fast. "I know, don't." she held on as he got behind the building with another attack streamlining by. "You need to fly without seeing."

The Giant just stared at her like she had sprouted a second head.

"You attack when you see another attack, but if you let me be your eyes I---_AH!_"

They were both taken aback when the Motorix appeared next to them while it's cannons were re-charging. The Giant froze completely in place when the loaded barrel holes were both on him _and_ Taylor. He gripped the building just as his eyes flashed blood red and his shutters swivelled in;Taylor screamed for all she could...

One half of a second before they vaporized each other into oblivion.

The two snapped out of their near death match.

"Fly!" She pleaded with him, and the Giant took off. _Trant, that kamikazee bastard!_

He flew a bit erratically at first with Taylor shouting out, and her voice grew weak and dry, basic directions. But after a few minutes they evened out into a much more smoother ride. Taylor felt her hammering heart re-fuel from total fear to excitement.

"We're doing it!" she called up to him, almost laughing. "Sharp left, duck, upward."

"We're not done yet." The Giant peeked at her from a shutter, but slightly winked.

They went like this around the city for a few minutes before the presense of the Motorix felt like it was far behind. Both of them were panting in exhaustion as the Giant drifted down to a deserted intersection of black pavement to rest a moment.

"Teamwork, "Taylor explained between gasps of air."that's what Hogarth meant."

The Giant nodded his agreement. "Let's go find him."

As a very shocked look fell across her fine features, that was his red flag to walk to the base of a still standing building and finger her inside. Her reaction was to hold onto his retreating finger with both arms and look him very opposingly in the eyes.

"We need to work together." she argued remindingly.

"You stay here, Taylor." he gently thumbed her off, regretfully. "and stay safe."

"Giant, no! You'll---Trant, he'll---"

The Giant went to face down the sleek, silver and black remodel of himself nobley.

x.x.x

Hogarth found himself passing over varying patches of earth, some of it was the uneased sight of futile attempts at farmland and others were rolling hills of grass that were yellowed by the drops in temperature Hogarth experienced fluctuating.

"Hot and cool. "he shivered as he pressed the floating little glider scooter foward.

From the still clear sky and the humid air, 35,000 and Kina were at least a mile up in the air behind him. Hogath didn't know if they were just waiting for him to give up as they sped along at an almost leisurely pace, and he didn't want to find out.

As the land below him shifted into a dark, doughy terrain of clay, Hogarth sharply pressed his right handle bar slightly to the side and struck that way. And they did as well. He veered fully sideways to the left and then back to the right as they did.

Before he could go zig-zagging crazily to throw them off, a single silver point of a cannon jutted from the golden saucer and aimed for Hogarth's lower back. He had to think quickly, and stuck the butt of the porcelain glider up so the spit of energy only hit it. Hogarth grimanced when a circle of pea-shooters jutted out for 'spitting'.

He got ready to pull the rotund belly of the glider up when the circle of shooters shot out in a crown of malignant silver and gold, the sight of a body of water coming up gave him an idea. This was just as quickly dashed with the onset of more land.

This land was water-cracked, muddy with sprouts of grass and was scattered with the rotting, stinking carcasses of marine life that people in the city hadn't bothered with cleaning. But all this only briefly registered with Hogarth with a sea coming up.

"This big arm of land...it must be the last ridge of the Chesapeake Bay," he said to himself in calculation as he turned his blue eyes onto the darker sea." This is the..."

The circle of pea-shooters whirred as they rotated inward, catching his hearing as they moved in deadly precision to shoot Hogarth in a ring of energy pelts. A familiar aroma of crisp ocean water assaulted his nose as they came clear over the North Atlantic ocean. He made a decision, and dove one hundred feet into the sea's murky depths---

Feet first.

Hogarth felt himself whirled about with one arm clutching the other one to him as he held his nose, pressed his lips together and screwed his eyes shut. The second he stopped plunging, he began to claw at the water in strong upward strokes. He knew that the animals had died from breathing the contaminated water too long.

When Hogarth rose, without ingesting any water, he saw that 35,000 and Kina had disappeared. A small smirk crossed his face at the thought that they thought he'd been zapped --- this was replaced with the fear that now they would go after the others, as was something much more worrisome then the golden droid retreating.

A dark line was coming up ahead, the rush of ocean water filled Hogarth's ears as he realized that it was two waterfalls that were enveloping down into nothing. He just stared at the parallel falls agape as he was swept toward their voidless fold.

II.

Robert and Trisha drove in absolute silence out of the townlimits of Rockwell Maine with no clear destination in mind at the moment. Going back to Trisha's apartment after her eviction was not optional, of course neither was Robert's town house in Ashmore which they weren't headed toward anyway; it'd be an obvious hideout.

"Our parents don't talk to each other anymore, "he commented. "hardly to us."

"And Lord only knows what they'd do if they knew their only grandbaby had been beamed up and abducted by extraterrersials." She added with a very bitter laugh.

"I'm sorry, Trisha."

The clutch of the silver handle was cold and she felt an urge to open it, to leap out at twenty-five miles an hour, roll down the hill and run from her brother. Maybe it would be back to the McCoppin house, maybe back home, maybe to see a crater...

When Robert clutched her other hand she knew he would never leave her side.

"We're leaving the states, Trish. There are double-agents that could be anywhere and I'm not taking chances. My niece is in good hands and so are the others. What we need to worry about is our survival, that's all we can. We're moving far away."

"What if they find us?"

Robert didn't say a word.

"Then our side in the future has lost, but at least we'll be safe."

They drove away never to return.

II.

The McCoppins and Daniel Barnes drove in stony silence, even the forever chatty little Julie couldn't find much to say to them. A balmy, summery breeze swayed the still fairly new growths of leaves on the live oaks that she watched rather dreamily.

"Getting sleepy?" Her mother asked Julianne with a loving smile as she yawned.

"Little bit, " the girl smiled up at Annie and hugged her slendor arm. "Sing to me?"

"Not right now, honey." Dean turned to say to her.

"A story?"

Both parents exchanged mutual fond looks, the struggles had always been great but the pay off was always greater. Julianne was paralyzed from the waist down, but her bubbly attitude and optimistic outlook on life was their greatest treasure.

The '64 Malibu brakes came to a screeching halt, and sent the passengers in the backseat jostling forward. Annie and Dean looked at each other as Daniel muttered a few incoherent swear words. He turned to the very startled family unassuringly.

"Take the girl, "he said to Annie in a gruff, firm voice."and run."

Annie rolled down her window and saw a man with a ratty red beard and tattered-torn clothes with his hand on a young man, who was stiffened in the acceptance of no chance for flight and who was between another man in a crisp, pitch black suit.

The other man turned to her and they met eyes --- no words were exchanged as they both saw what kind of lives they had lead. For Annie, it was a good,honest life and for Kent Mansley it was one of spiraling corruption --- his look was rough, cold-

-- and to Annie's great sadness--- acceptance.

"Annie," Dean turned to her with very hurt eyes and clutched at her heart-shaped face, leaning into the back. " take Julie and get under the car." he told her shakily.

"Who is it?"

"The Shieff... " Came his deeply emotive whisper. " He's got Daniel at gun-point."

Annie flung the door open and rushed a silent, compliant Julianne to the rear end.

To be continued...


	13. The reasonings

**A**/**N:** Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. I'm really excited for this chapter as it will finalize some things while starting others, this will also be my last really long ch. A few final things about the Giant's history will be revealed. I guess this is the big showdown you could call it, it's my favorite so far. Hope you'll take the time to R&R.

I.

Late day, the vacated city of Washington D.C. Alpha, May 8th 2200...

The entire Earth felt still as the futuristic, seemingly soulless clone and the Space Age-raised, highly integral original stood one-hundred yards from one another. No one made the first move, the Giant knew that his self-discipline from all the time he had spent in the place called 'Iceland' was about to be put to a very high risk test.

This wasn't something he looked forward to, but he wanted to prove something.

Admittedly, the other robot was a very wondrous piece of the technology he and the others had encountered wherever they were on Earth. It's body was encased in a skin of chrome overlapping black that shone glaringly in the Giant's eyes as he kept from shielding them --- he would not be looking away from those lifeless eyes again.

"Take a look at yourself." Trant insisted with an air of refinement as he sat back in a lounging position atop the Motorix's shoulder. "You look like you have seen much," he gave an easy snigger. "your junk heap gray metal is old and splotchy in faded black."

The Giant did not look at himself, he knew what he looked like.

"You are just as envious and as naïve of our advancement as Hogarth," the man kept on as the Giant stood there with his arms stationed at his sides. "He had the best intentions when he left you to try and stop Kina, and he may die for his acts of trying to save an outdated, rebellious piece of weather-beaten shit; which you are, 7000."

He did not react to the degrading taunts, he knew the value of his life to people had always varied. The Giant valued all people, even those who had wronged him. But he felt he could only truly value himself so long as he could protect all those around him.

"These buildings," Trant continued on, leading up to something. "are very durable and rustic in design when the Alpha architects constructed them, but they aren't as strong as the Motorix." he stood in his seat. "As it is not as strong as you are,7000…"

"Yet." The Giant finished for him in a mild, flat tone.

"Your metal is stronger because of your contact with that highly nuclear miss-isle... err, I'm not as up on my historical trivia as the redundant Archer is."

"I won't run, Trant." He declared to the other man, tired of the delay.

Trant nodded and the Motorix lifted it's arms; the Giant did as well. " All of the people you are now fighting for have not only evacuated D.C. Alpha, but they have used the remains of your 7999 original copies to construct all of these buildings that you see."

"You're not going to make me a gun," The Giant told him impatiently.

"Your dearest _friend _Taylor attempted to. " Trant concluded, turning to his Motorix.

Familiar jumbo cannons brandished in place of it's arms, and generated richly plump spheres of emerald. There wasn't a trace of conscious or self-awareness in it's green eye beams. The Giant crossed his faded, burnt-bruised arms, his white eyes held a nearly full self-awareness that he wanted to match his fully obtained consciousness.

"Souls don't die,"he locked with Trant's self-important eyes."but _you _are killing _his_."

Trant's nostrils flared in a silent rage as he snapped his fingers.

An enormous sphere shot directly for the Giant's head, his eyes swerved red and he simply shifted his neck to one side as it hurled noiselessly pass. Another shot was fired and the Giant took it straight for the shoulder that sent cording pain in his arm.

"_Uh_!" he cried through clenched teeth.

Long buried fear of losing control struck through him as his arm became a two-tong trident, he hooked it onto a building as the attack began to charge up. It was such an overwhelming sense of horror; it was his greatest fear --- an absolute loss of control.

No control of his own body, no free will, no choice, no emotions, no 'him'.

The Giant squeezed his eyes against the next round of physical pain, _Come on, come on. _he urged himself, trying to remain grounded as a senseless intent to commit a dark undertaking prodded at his well-developed psyche_. No fighting, no weapons, no..._

"I will squeeze every last drop of your energy to make my Motorix stronger," A voice called out calmly through volleys of silent energy beams. " and only a small amount will be needed for Kina's new clone copy, _but_ you _must_ fight us back for it all to work."

Trant's tone was feathery, airy and held a note of disappointment.

"AHHHH!" The Giant screamed as an explosion of pain unlike any other ripped into his stomach, he tried to clutch at it with his cannoned arm but found it was already locking and loading. He trembled silently inside not at the coursing pain, but at his personal battle. All of the weapons were already out and he now felt his mind going.

_No,no… _his memories began slipping. The Giant crouched down, he than desperately pressed as hard as he could into his remaining memories. _Souls aren't something you can see. Hogarth… _He forced his languishing, mentally perishing self to focus on him.

"I have to live…I have ...he asked me to protect Ta..Taylor."

The third person in the world he had wanted to trust had tried turning him into a gun.

The Giant didn't blame her, but it still hurt.

Suddenly, his emotions were numbed and the scarlet luminance of demise fully filled his eye-sockets. He knew he existed, but suddenly nothing felt like it mattered. It should have been horrible, and it wasn't. Everything just felt pointless to him.

Everything felt just so meaningless.

"I --- I will be used as a gun." the admission was stated as he had no more control.

If he could not control himself, if he could not fight it, then why should it matter?

His mind drifted on the brink of unconsciousness.

"No." A fraile sob, a girl's it sounded, pierced the Iron Giant's inner, reddened prison.

x.x.x

As the Giant's weaponry erupted and the Motorix's armada of silent, on sight blasters enclosed the perimeter of the intersection they were at, Trant held up two devices in his hand. With one, he scanned 7000's DNA for Kina's copies from the energy it gave off. He hadn't expected the technologically obsolete robot to resist to the point that it accidently self-imploded itself, but then he did not care. The scanner beeped it's end.

Trant lowered it down and rose the next one just as the walls of energy melded into one another, the Motorix made eye contact with him. It seemed, he took some notice as he held up his teleporter, to almost look at him in puzzlement and Trant suddenly realized in that moment that all droids held the potential of choosing their own fates.

"Tr-ant...?" The Motorix said, it's 'male' voice automated but somehow inquiring of him.

The twenty-five-year-old man did not hesitant, and left the Motorix for dead.

"Trant?" he asked, curiously."where you go?"

His and the Giant's attack came together, levelled the tops of buildings and fizzled out.

x.x.x

Taylor stood under the cover of the building she had snuck into behind the Giant. She'd been determined to show him there had to be a better way, now it was much too late.

The Giant had stood iron solid against the attacks, he had allowed them all to connect.

In doing so he had kept his word for as long as he had been able to.

For the first time in her life, Taylor wasn't thinking straight as she made her way over to a cross-section of vertically laying buildings. They held the sight of the Giant's large face partially shown beneath the collapsed gray deconstruction that lay upon his own body.

She had been nothing more then a wide-eyed bystander as the Giant had taken a full-on assault by Trant, a pang of injustice and the anger at her inability to help still lingered strong inside of her heart. And yet out of all her pained feelings, there an understanding was beginning to form for something she had not thought of before.

The Giant's red eye swiveled counter-clockwise as she worked her way through an array of crippled girders, and resolved into fading a glow of defeated white that was fluctuating in and out like a clinging pulse. Taylor stepped up near his unchanged arm.

"Don't." He told her in a crackly, mechanically screeching voice. It was a chilling sound that would have caused any regular passerby to shrink back in fear. "You… you need to go." his tone was pleading, almost ashamed as Taylor continued to come closer to him.

Static of yellow-green swirled around his pincher where chunks of metal had been blown through, the holes that were made had metallic, burnt-stinking black folds that curled back from them --- as though caused by some inward overflow of great power.

"_Please_, go." His low humanoid voice was remotely there, possibly never to return fully.

Taylor climbed onto the Giant's motionless, crack-streaked arm and said to him when they saw each other clearly. "I am so very sorry," she said in a strong, steady tone of voice as she stood tall at a height of 5'2 on his limb. "that I tried to use you as a gun." His lower shutter gave a little voluntary lift up to her; a very weak, appreciative smile.

She smiled meaningfully back.

The white of his eye dissolved away just as tears of heart-wracking pain began to pool from her hazel ones, streaming profuse down her round, china-doll cheeks. Taylor felt herself falling to her knees with restrained sobs nagging inside at her parched throat.

"Oh, God…" she breathed in sharply, and exhaled with all of her energy : _''Why?!_"

Taylor's voice gave as she screamed a final time. They were gone, both of them!!!

"No…God, please no…" The girl sobbed in a dread that was consuming her down, she sank to her stomach so she was next to him and engulfing the putrid aroma he had emitting from open wounds of iron-clad flesh. Taylor could feel a presense from behind.

The fumes became dizzying.

There was a squeeze on her shoulder, and she turned in the midst of her episode of hopelessness to see that the man named Archer was looking pass her wearing a grim expression; not for the destruction of the city or even at his one lost hope at restoring the Earth to atmospheric perfection. What Kina's father held in his old eyes was what Taylor could feel in herself as well, a pure admiration and a very deep sense of regret.

"Is there any way?" she asked in a single, hysteric-free breath of voice.

"Stand, young lady."

She rose.

He looked her squarely in the eye, and Taylor knew for the first time in her life she was going to be conducted equally with an adult aside from Uncle Robert."Trant has drained all of his energy for the copies, and he has left for a location that we cannot trace yet."

"_Will_ the Giant live?" She demanded testily, there was still a kid inside of her.

"The Giant has stood against Trant's war-machine and has inadvertently self-imploded the weaponry within himself." Archer rubbed at his forehead. "It was enough to kill him by holding in the full force of his capabilities," he met her eyes. "he is now in comatose."

"In a coma?" Taylor reiterated in a hopeful whisper. "You mean, he might wake up?"

The man did not answer her as a group of blue-clad men and women went to surround the Giant in a semi-circle, they held what appeared to be blow-dryers in their hands as they approached the wreckage that was still upon him. Taylor shook her head, these people were going to melt down the droid-building remnants and the Giant's body too.

She knew she could not stop them if they did.

"We will use them to reconstruct him," Archer informed her in a crisp, professional voice. "I do not know if he will live, and his weapons will need to be repaired as he cannot live without them. Removing any one of them would be like removing a human's organ."

"Where are we going?" She asked matter-of-factly.

"Honolulu, Hawaii." He held up a silver device in his hand, a teleportation device.

"Can those teleport you anywhere?"

"No, they are one-way." Archer sighed heavily. "and they were only for a select few."

"Like Kina?"

Taylor bit her tongue, he had never had a real daughter as she hadn't had a father. The sixteen-year-old young woman clasped his arthritis-stricken hand, this took the man by surprise as the city remnants were transported away in a big cross–continental voyage.

Along with the people and the Giant.

The Motorix was left behind --- he was dead.

II.

Hogarth had seen a lot of things, but this made his mind lock up for a moment. It was twin waterfalls dipping down into a deep black line out on one of the world's largest oceans. He didn't attempt to swim the other way, not that it wasn't possible. At such a slow, modest speed, Hogarth could tell why the land masses stayed where they were.

The unsettling thought that he would slip in and plummet forever was assauged with a welcoming sight --- a long sandbar of white-gray. There was garbage that clustered around here and there, but instead of eagerly swimming toward it he let the tide carry him gradually. Hogarth had yet to rule out the possiblity of a hallucination or hologram.

If he was going to survive, he was going to have to start thinking things out more.

Clever, quick-thinking would only get him part way.

His body was itching and his biker clothing drapped heavily from the salty ocean as he pressed his hands into the cool grains, and collasped onto them. Exhaustion did not come close to what he felt, it was like a week had gone by without rest and it would've been the anchor for Hogarth to drop asleep if his friends' well being didn't still register.

_I'm a fool, _he rose to his feet and rubbed his neck before sneezing. _A damn, lucky one._

Hogarth turned to the rubbage that lay about to begin thinking when the smooth, and terribly familiar whirring noise of a droid returning to it's original state reached his ears from behind. Without pause for consideration, Hogarth dashed for the scattered trash.

He turned in time from behind a sheet of metal to see Droid 35,000, it had seen him so there was no use in hiding. The two faced each other as he came out after discarding his sopping clothes apart from his jacket and briefs; most thought Garth wore boxers.

"Flying solo?" he quipped the creature dryly, folding his moderately muscled arms.

"I cannot fly without the aid of Kina."

"Speaking of the Wicked Witch of the future, where is she?"

"Kina did not wish to come near the place where metal for 7000 was unearthed."

So this was where the iron for the Giant had come from, it was from the Earth's core.

"That so?" Hogarth said, buying time. It was not bought, 35,000 lifted it's barallels.

He walked back towards an upturned, van-looking car near the sandbar's edge that was right above the drop point. "I hope you know it doesn't have to be this way." the young man told her, climbing up onto the exposed underside of what was an Escalade.

"I cannot be coerced as 7000 can, " it told Hogarth, boading the front of the car and locking a single cannon onto it's soaking, slightly shivering query. "I am programmed-"

"The Giant was programmed to be a weapon," He cut her off, but remained calm and collected as he delivered his reasoning." and I did prod him to become good, yes. But the fact is he had it in him all along. Answer me, 35,000, is this really what you want?"

"You are bidding your time."

"Tell me." Hogarth demanded evenly, honestly. "And, yes, I am."

"I was designed to protect Kina."

"Do you want to?"

She lifted the side of her cannon to her gild-plated face. "It matters not what I want."

"Yes, it does."

"Silence!" Was her cry of frustration.

"Hear that?" Hogarth said, chilly and persistant as he hopped foot to foot. "You've got the ability to feel and you talk like someone who can make up their own mind;thinking."

"7000 protects you because he-erm-it feels..." she groaned at her mistake."program-"

"The Giant protects me because he wants to, "Hogarth stepped back when he saw that 35,000's weight was surprisingly not much more than his." not because he has to and not because he's _programmed _to. He can think for himself, and I think you can too."

Orange energy swirled out of her cannon and she directed it for his face. "No, I can't."

Hogarth closed his eyes and lowered his head, pushing his wet bangs back."All right then." he had gotten to the point of always trying to cover up his huge, dumbo ears.

It was the one thing about his appearance he had always hated.

35,000 fired without hesitation or questioning as to why he did this, and the teenaged boy rolled just under the attack. The droid did not have time to feel astonished as he went under it's legs, and it found itself propelled through the air from the weight of it's own attack. Hogarth fell safely to the blanket of sand, and watched the car rise up. He got out of the way as it slid down to it's side, 'she' fell back first into the fall's envelop.

Clutching his coat to his body, Hogarth stepped toward the edge but didn't risk looking down to see inside. Instead, he started to search around for wood when the screech of metal on rock pierced his eardrums and he ran over to peer down catiously inside it.

The golden creature was clinging to the limestone and sedimentary washed rock, she had taloned claws that clutched into the stone ledges. They were sharp enough that they could strike a quick, fatal puncture wound through human flesh in half a second.

When she looked up Hogarth locked with her green eyes, he immediately rushed and found an uncoiled rope not far from the car. The droid called up to him and told him his act of courage would not change it's mind. Hogarth ignored her as he searched about for a close hanger or a crow bar to get the car door open, there wasn't a useful thing.

"Huh. Something heavy...?" There was nothing nearby to smash a window with.

Hogarth clenched his fists in exasperation and thumped his forehead upon the door of the vechile, when he stood back all of the doors swung open; they had been unlocked.

"That figures... "

He heard the sound of the claws scraping downwards, and immediately went to wrap the rope about the rusted legs of the weather-worn seats. Getting the knots as tight as he could, Hogarth rushed over with the rest of the length to where 35,000 was at.

It looked up in what was almost surprise as he lowered the rope down. "No."

"_Yes_, take it."

"If I accept your help, I accept your beliefs."

"If you don't, you'll die." The look the robot gave him was one of unsureness at that.

Hogarth rolled his eyes. "Just grab the damn nylon already," he said impatiently.

35,000 ceiled it's shutters and turned away in refusal, just as the Giant had with Trant.

"I feel bad for you," the young man told her honestly as he walked away. "I really do."

Her shutter peeked open and her green eye moved upward to where the rope was at.

Hogarth was slipping on his damp pants as a warm spell fell over the sandbar when a tight tug at his ankle made him look down, and smile broadly. The rope was held taut.

His smile faded as the van-Escalade-thing began to drag foward, crunching garbage under it's cab. Hogarth yanked up his unzipped jeans and brought the rope over his shoulder, he felt confident with the combined effort when a presense at the side of the rope made him turn around. Kina stood with her arms behind her, her head tilted back.

"Is there something important on the other end of that thing? Or, heh, _someone_?"

She was back in her pompous, heavy plum shawls drapping about.

"Ditch that purple curtain and help me save her." Hogarth grunted from the exertion.

"Naturally typical." Kina merely commented and approached Hogarth with a stick. "Do you like it? It is Trant's design. A wire taser that can be set to stun or, you know, kill."

His only thought was a stupid one --- what in the world a taser was.

She held it up over her head to strike his arm, Hogarth felt the rope in his hand quickly slacken, and she brought it down just as a gold-taloned hand caught her by the wrist.

"Do you value my life?" 35,000 asked point-blank when they met eyes.

Kina spat in her face and flashed Hogarth an angered look. "You have corrupted it."

"_She_ asked you a question." He threw the rope aside. "_You_ should answer her."

The young woman stepped back and crossed her arms expectantly. "Use posion vial."

Hogarth narrowed his eyes on the droid as it lifted it's gold-thorned fingers in a crown that prevented him from dodging or rolling and shot them foward. He dove straight inward as her propelled fingers clasped, did a somersalt and held up a chipping mirror from the car. The two stood like statues with the Escalade's rearview held in her face.

"Are _these _the eyes of a killer?" He seethed demandingly while holding it up to 'it'.

35,000 rose an elbow and knocked it clean out of his hands, she looked very decided.

"These vials," Kina said in shock behind him. "These are only for temporary paralysis!"

Hogarth looked to 35,000 and she met his eyes informally. "My debt is finalized." her body stiffened as her left thumb was severed by a cut cord and she winced in the pain.

"Kina!" He whirled on her furiously and received a jab to his knee cap. Hogarth lurched forward on it, he felt rips of pain surge up through his thigh upon landing in the sandy terrain. Kina smiled knowingly and turned to the glaring robot, twisting her gold thumb.

"We are both equally intelligent." She admitted without emotion, her smile was gone.

"And yet you treated me like property."

"Correction, Goldie," Kina found amusement in the robot's self-discovery."as slavery."

She narrowed her shutters in hurt at this. "I thought you were above me, but now..."

"Consider your freedom my mercy," Kina walked over to Hogarth and touched his leg." I will say, your deceit has given me a marvelous idea. And, yes, this boy will stay alive."

35,000 met her highly self-assured eyes. "I love you." she told her honestly, motherly.

They teleported away to parts unknown and Kina never had time to respond to this.

The nameless golden robot walked toward the downward falls as they rushed with the thunderous, relentless and timelessness that made the Earth worth standing upon. In an act of humility, she dunked her maimed, hand-reverted limp into the clear rapid falls.

She could not feel the water, but it's soothing lulled her to a restful sleep for just a bit.

Her next course of action was not certain at this time.

"What is my name...?" she spoke thoughtfully.

III.

Annie fumbled with the keys to the trunk, Julie sat next to her on the pavement. When the trunk popped, she picked up her daughter and looked down into her big blue eyes.

"Do you trust Mama?"

"Yes."

The woman's green eyes flooded with tears. "Do you love Mama?" she said breathily.

"Always."

Annie kissed her forehead and placed Julianne in the trunk, closed it , locked it, slipped the keys in her bra and chucked the crutches into the nearby ditch before going around behind Daniel. If Kent saw her, he would alert Sergey to it and it would be over for her.

It would mean she had acted foolish and it would all be for nothing.

She had survived her husband's death, an incoming missle and the boob responsible.

_I can do this._

x.x.x

Dean and Daniel slowly emerged from the Malibu, Shieff James Rhinestien held the hole of the pistol barrel right on the undercover agent and would not meet Dean's eyes. He felt both sorry and sickened for his friend, but could not blame him --- his own child had never had a gun held on them as a hostage. Gorden Rhinestien's life was the incentive.

His assured safety was the reason for the otherwise law-abiding man's corruption.

"Get to the front, " he demanded, his Southern accent shaky. "You as well, McCoppin."

Both men moved toward the front of the hood, Dean noticed that the shieff would not meet his eyes and he wondered immediately what Dimelo had up his sleeve for them.

"Money, the key to the city, _what_?" Mr. Barnes said sharply. He wanted facts.

Most of them knew of the 'future' consequences, but not of the demands.

"Need all the answers be given at once?" Asked the tall man with black and silver hair.

"Dimelo," He grumbled. "Looks like you've been sprung on stolen, hard-earned green."

"On the contrary, American. My dear family sent a check from an undisclosed location."

Mr. Barnes glanced over at Mansley. "Your cahoots operation is disclosed, give up."

Mansley held the boy's neck tighter while the man held the gun closer. "Don't test him."

"Shieff, look out." Dimelo informed lightly as Dean tried moving for the bigger man.

A second gun was pulled out of the holster and pointed onto him, he stepped back.

"We're friends, James." Dean reasoned calmly."Remember? I have a son of my own..."

"...who nearly slit my son."

"Who could have seriously harmed Taylor Evans." Dean sadly sensed Gorden tense up.

If he hadn't been an innocent victim, he would have liked to feel this conviction.

"Sorry, Dean." the man slipped his shades off and placed them onto his brown hair." If it comes right down to you or my boy, than I'm pickin' my kin." he looked very numbed.

"Understood." Dean stepped forward with his head down and his arms at his side.

Rhinestien eased up from his highly tensed state, when a stone was tossed at his foot.

_Annie. _

"Shieff!" Dimelo warned quickly, slightly taken aback but he never removed the gun.

Dean seized James's gun and gripped it in his hands. "I knew a man once, he was no more of a danger than my own daughter but he was made of guns." he narrowed his eyes into the shieff's deeply refusing ones. "and he chose to save this town instead."

Dimelo belted out in laugther and even the shieff shook his head. "Cut the shit, Dean."

The other man merely pulled out the magazine securing the cartridges, handed the gun back to the shieff and ducked for the side of the car before Rhinestien could reload. He executed the underwire crawl General Rogard had jokingly tipped the sculptor with one time over the phone; he had given connections for Dean's unfinished telescope design.

And today was his judging day as he crawled on his stomach under an expensive car.

"McCoppin!" Rhinestien shouted in frustration as he made it to the other side, the click of the trigger was heard and a shot was fired. Dean scooped Annie up, jumped and the bullet struck Daniel's ankle, he grabbed the man's arm and tried running with the two.

"Don't be a damn fool," Daniel said tersely and yanked away. Mansley made a move as the shieff moved around from behind, Dimelo stayed with Gorden and kept the gun on him. The shot man stopped Mansley with a bullseye glare. "I know a coward when I've caught a whiff of his stink." he said between clenched jaws, snarling. "Now get back over by my student!"

They met eyes briefly; which both fell to the unfired gun that Daniel had dropped in the attack.

Gorden wrinkled his big nose in refusal.

"Rhinestien," Dimelo called overhead informally. "Take the couple back into the woods."

"Pop," The boy croaked out. "It ain't worth it." he watched his father lead the family, a look of poignancy crippled his large face. "Dad, d'hear me? They ain't worth it. Pop, no!"

James did not face his son as they crossed over the ditch.

"Daddy!"

"_Daddy_." His Communist captor mocked quietly.

Gorden pushed his foot forward and moved the pistol over to his teacher with the toe of his football kleat. Daniel received it ungraciously; but didn't raise it. "Back up, Shieff."

Rhinestien aimed the hole of the pistol under his left pit at the man, he called his bluff.

"This next one is to show my son what a foolish, desperate man is."

His hand received a high kick by Annie and the gun on them was off. "Squad captain." she told him stonily and went for her daugther. Dean didn't seize either weapon, the man turned for the edge of the road and sprinted over to it to jump off going feet first.

There was a river that ran beneath the road.

"James!" Dean yelled after him but his attention shifted to the discarded guns as he and Mansley met eye-to-eye, the bearded man was reaching for both of the Revolvers.

"Still living the life of a peace-loving Beatnik after the Rin Tin Tin man's big kaboom...?"

A fist was forcibly rammed up into his anal region. "_Beat_ this, Kent."he said squarely.

It wasn't pleasurable for the sculptor, but it did release some long harbored hostility.

"The most my female-ish friend has probably ever experienced." Dimelo commented.

Dean stood up with his other fist reared back.

"Here," Kent sucked in his breath and slugged a fist into Dean's head;right into the car.

It was a clean, upper right hook. "Good show," Dimelo said. "But hardly underhanded."

The man fell back unconsciously and the trunk popped open. Mansley stood up, a hand clutching his aching middle, and stumbled over toward the back. Annie tried to tackle him to the ground, but was shoved aside. He approached the back and found that it was empty. Dimelo sent him a quick, withering look and shoved a shaken Gorden back.

"Did you see where the agent and the girl went to?" he demanded roughly.

Gorden shook his head, and in a guilty way he was glad that he wasn't lying.

"Annie." Mansley said 'kindly' as he pulled her along, she was compliant and silent.

x.x.x (Last one, references to earlier chapters btw... ) x.x.x

Gorden clutched onto the pistol behind him and brought it foward, barrellel lowered, it had been just last night that he was looking to threaten Garth Hughes with his father's shotgun. Now, his father had abandoned him and he had the guy's mother to rescue. A memory from yesterday in the park came to him, it was what his friend Troy mentioned:

"_Someone got the shit knocked out of him for messing with Garth's sister_."

And Gorden remembered his response. "_I got nothin' against his family, just him."_

"Do you believe in God?" Dimelo held the gun on Annie, she looked into his eyes firmly.

"I do."

"Ma'am, let's reckon with him." The gun was shaking in Gorden's hands. "No provokin'."

It was just barely passed Dimelo's knee caps.

"The boy makes a point." He pulled the trigger back and Mansley stood back silently.

"Man up." Was all he said to the sixteen-year-old nastily.

"That's right," Dimelo said wisely, knowingly. "I know you'll kill us to save her."

Annie glanced over at Gorden. "If you see him, tell Hogarth I love him."

"He knows it, Mrs. McCoppin." he told her in a cracked voice. "You-you raised'im right."

"Hofart..." Mansley mumbled.

"Please let the child go." She requested matter-of-factly.

"No, the boy needs to make up his mind." Dimelo said, no-nosense.

"This isn't the way." Annie said even as the trigger moved."Gorden, please listen now. I want you to know this isn't your fault. Please, Gorden, live for me. But mostly for God..."

Her tone of voice was pleading, she was more scared for him than herself.

"I could save you. Will you let me?"

"He'll kill us both."

The young man lowered the gun and a single shot was fired, his body started trembling as he brought the rustic-looking weapon up to his eyes. And that's when Gorden knew.

There was a sharp intake of breath.

"She's down." Dimelo said promptly as Gorden looked up to meet his eyes."_you_ did it."

"You're a cold-blooded commie." He turned the gun around within his big hands."and a con man ta boot. You been usin' us like we was puppets and not people, haven't you?"

"It feels good to hold power," the man continued. "very good...Doesn't it, young man?"

Gorden met his eyes so suddenly he took a step back. "This here's a coward's tool."

He threw it to the ground, and glanced down.

"Turn around." Dimelo commanded, back in control as he took control once more.

Gorden felt terror run through him as he turned around and braced himself for the shot.

_Oh, God._

It never came.

"Sergey, he's undecided." Mansley intervened. " Why shoot him when we can leave him with the lifelong knowledge that his _daddy _is a coward. Besides, he didn't save this lady in time." a cold laugh came from his throat. "How unmanly can you get?Let's leave him."

"Prove to me you aren't protecting the boy." When he said this Gorden shut his eyes.

A grunt was heard, it was Dean's. He was alive. "I have one shot left."

"Then shoot him."

"Why shoot him when we can let him live with the knowledge Gorden didn't save her?"

Annie moaned in pain.

"Afraid to get blood on your hands, Womanly?"

"No," Kent said. " They're lives mean nothing to me." he meant it.

"And the girl is gone, " Dimelo sighed in disappointment. "so much for a hostage."

The car doors to the Malibu opened. "The world will come to a new turning point in one year," Gorden heard the man say. "you have until then to make up your mind, Gorden."

"_Satanist_!" He yelled out into the canyon below.

The engine started. "The Iron Giant," Dimelo told him from the window. "is very real."

"And he's gonna stop you," Gorden whirled around. "Him, Garth and Taylor will!"

But the window was already rolled up and the Malibu took off, leaving the McCoppin's side-by-side upon the winding road. The eighteen-year-old young man stood, petrified.

Annie's choking coughs caught his attention. "Over there." she indicated something.

Gorden didn't look at them as he went to snatch up his father's portable CB radio.

"Thomas, we got a Black '64 Malibu two blocks from Culiver road headed eastbound."

"For Portland?"

"Yes."

"Liscence number?"

"Unattained."

"James, your voice sounds different."

"This isn't the shieff, Tom." Gorden told him assuringly."It's Mr. Rhinestien, his son."

"Stay there, son. I'll dispatch some units."

Gorden turned quickly to go over and assist the McCoppins.

To be continued...

Lavenderpaw.


	14. Fates made known

**A/N: **There are some very 'interesting' parts to this chapter. Stuff will be made known! ;)And someone poses an 'interesting' question. Find out…

I.

"You're the bravest lady I ever met, ma'am." Came a familiar, southern voice.

"Thank you," Annie spoke in a soft, gracious voice. "and , please, live a full life."

"The cops are comin', I'm scared." The young man admitted to her breathily.

"We all are, Mr. Rhinestien. But be brave." There was a stifled breath.

"The nicest peach I ever knew…" His voice gave to a few, sucking sobs.

Dean had felt himself moved off from the rough roadway over to the stringy tufts of grass that aligned the side of the road, he tried to look over to see what was going on but he just could not. His head achingly throbbed with every step the cleat boots took towards him, a part of him just wanted to lay there and suffer quietly. Two hands grasped onto his arms.

"Easy feller," Gorden said to Dean as he lifted the lighter, older man up onto his broad shoulders. "We're headin' on into the forest yonder." His reassurance was the last thing the sculptor heard before he sank back into unconsciousness. "We're gonna make it…"

x.x.x

The traces of daylight were fading even as the environment still retained the substance of it's soft, summer spell. Not a sound was made as a man clutched a small, jacket-bundled form to his chest up in the deep grove of a trusty oak tree. When Daniel Barnes had been young and spry, he had loved the opportunity of ambushing foes back in World War Two.

Now, the man knew better. He knew that the only life he could have assured was the little girl's. She was looking up at him curiously, but he was keeping watch from his bird's eye view. There was no chance some filthy, stinking rightwing coward, a nut bar scientist commie who was released from his conspiracy plots on bail or a warped sheriff would be taking this child. The sound of heavy footsteps put him on high alert as he glanced down.

It was his jarhead student Gorden whom had helped him after his own father had deserted him.

"Lucky little son of a gun," Dan muttered with some approval. He held the little girl, who clung like a little chimp, to him and slid down a few branches. The man made sure not a single other soul was around before he worked his way deftly down to stand behind him.

Dean McCoppin, in his short-sleeved, black turtleneck, was flung over the young man's large, sweaty back.

Gorden no longer wore his letterman jacket.

He turned around to face his teacher slowly, there were no excuses. "They're gone, sir."

Daniel moved Julie's face into his flannel shirt and placed ear plugs into her ears. "And?"

"And what?" Gorden asked throatily.

"Where's the wife? Did they take her?" Daniel was rigidly straight-forward.

Sorrow grooved lines in his broad forehead. "Nah, sir." he whispered, mustering courage.

"Did you have a chance to save her?"

"Yes sir."

Daniel seized his equal-in-size student and pulled him up face-to-face, he was boiling in a quick, surmounting temper. "Tell the truth to my eyes. I smell fear and see lies, Gorden."

The boy was afraid, but it wasn't for himself. "I asked to save her after the Red told her to let me decide and she said not ta shoot'im, sir. .She said 'no' to it, truly Mr. Barnes."

He let the young man go wordlessly, and didn't bother to wipe off the tears that came in trickles down his big, hairy arm from his former, life-altered pupil. In all of his fifty-five years of life he had never dreamt of hearing this; a woman had taken a shot for her beliefs.

Daniel sat Julie down and reached down to the ankle that had been shot, he motioned for her to look away and rolled up his pants leg. The man plucked the bullet inserted into his prosthetic leg and jerked it out. He had a fake limb and could walk, she had legs but the chance to walk had passed her by. Her mother was gone. Daniel breathed in very shakily.

He released his breath as he watched his student reach down.

Gorden unplugged Julie's ears and tossed the orange stubs aside, the little girl peered at him a bit warily. "Little miss," he touched her small hand. "If I hurt you, I am so sorry."

She turned to face him fully and grasped his big fingers inside hers, then she spoke in a small, assuring voice. "Gord, please listen to me. I know you've done some bad things,"

Daniel's heart stirred, he watched quietly as the six-year-old spoke her innocent words.

"But God is good, Gord." Julie said to the young man. "And if you believe in him and try to be good like him, you'll always be good." A small smile slid across her little heart face.

"Thank you, peach." He smiled and ran his thumb down her cheek to catch her tear trails.

"Let's make tracks." Daniel spoke suddenly, all business as police sirens wailed far off.

Sadly, he knew the partnership of him and Robert Evans would not last. The man was not a bad guy, but still young and a bit flighty in his forties with a thirty-something sister that he chose to protect in his own way. Daniel respected him. He felt Julie wiggle in his arms as they headed off into the heavily forested backwoods, she had become entirely restless.

That was a very good sign.

"How's Daddy?"

"A little heavy with the snoozes." Gorden said in a poor attempt to sound light-hearted.

"You called me Peach," the little girl said, intrigued by this prospect. " may I call you a new name?" He consented. "How about Apples? You try to be hard like one but you're sweet inside." Daniel suppressed a chuckle at this, but Gorden agreed readily for her joy.

"So our new codenames are Peaches and Apples?" He inquired with an effort to sound as easy-going as he could. She was on Dan's shoulder in front with Gorden and Dean at the back. "Yes," Julie answered, silly but somewhat serious. "We are secret agents, after all."

"Anything you say, Peaches."

"Apples." She sounded sleepy.

"Yes?"

"I'm going to tell you about God tomorrow, now I want to tell you about the Iron Giant."

"All right then." He turned to look at the older man staring straight ahead. "Okay, teach?"

"Keep it quiet, but all right," Daniel said gently, before adding with a smile, "Apples."

"Thanks Mr. Bananas." Gorden whispered with a smile, a little caught up in the moment.

"Don't push it."

Their forms were silhouetted as they headed out into a clearing toward the safe, twilight haven town of Rockwell. Four forever changed people were bound for a town that had been changed many years ago; they would be willing. Julie started her tale of it's history.

She began the first chapter of the story, it was one that was not even close to being over.

Rockwell, Maine would be a safe place for now, the last place the commies and future weirdos would think they'd go was exactly the place where they would go, Dan knew this from experience.

Besides, the little fishing village had a right to know the town hero of '57 was still alive and kicking.

II.

Honolulu, Hawaii, May, 2200…

Taylor lay very patiently while two women helped her, she dozed in and out of sleep after having had a tarty passion fruit smoothie and toasted, tofu sandwich that had the taste of roast beef. The twenty-something-year-old looked down at her with a considerate smile.

"You must be exhausted." She held up the surgically-removed metal translator to show that she could now speak. Everyone in the world spoke a single, multi-dialect language, aside from the time travelers ; Omnish. "Is it that obvious?" Taylor laughed a little, the new one on her tongue was rubbery and comfortable. It also doubled as a cover for her laser stitches.

"Mind if I ask something?"

The two women exchanged uneasy glances over her.

"As long as it doesn't involve the complexities of time travel," Asa, a personable but very busy Hawaiian woman, answered before she checked the time on Taylor's dry-cool bath. To save water, people in the future stepped into chambers to get misted over with a thick, bacteria-absorbing vapor. "one of the scientists from D.C. Alpha would have to explain."

Taylor knew she really didn't care as she had her own obligations, and in her own way a part of Taylor was growing accustomed to her own in life. There was part of her that was still not comprehending all of this, but it was the same day in the future as it was in 1964.

It was summer in 2200 as in 1964. When the time came to go back, that's when she'd go.

She took a breath before asking her question."Do either of you know where the Giant is?"

"Who?" Asa asked as the timer ran out and she pulled open the big, tan door so Taylor could step out. Trina, Archer's niece, came over with Taylor's sanitized clothes in hand.

"We do not know," she said apologetically as the short girl slipped on her bell-bottoms and bright tie-die T-shirt. Taylor wrapped her arms around herself at the cool dampness that tingled on her skin, but found she had dried. "The head of medical directory is the-."

"But I _really_ need to know how he is." She insisted, holding her hands up and laced.

"Oh," Asa showed more interest as she began scrubbing the chamber for the next person.

The whole island had turned into one huge medical facility; at the moment it was for the refuges like Taylor herself. "7000? One of the first droids from 2130, is that right Trina?"

Trina nodded stiffly, giving her a pointed look to keep cleaning. "You would have to go to the Critical Department several corridors down from here." she handed the girl a big toothy, plastic inscription card. "Take some advice, go to your assigned room instead."

Taylor nodded at the pretty, fair-skinned girl. "All right then." She took the card in one hand while crossing her fingers behind her back with the other. "I'll keep out of trouble."

They let her out with clear directions as to where she would stay.

The halls had people dressed in blue jumpsuits (people from Alpha) and tranquil green jumpsuits (Honolulu citizens) loitering about. Everyone stared at her clothes, while she found herself sending polite smiles at something that was socially immoral in her time. It was something she never expected to see; men held hands, women hugged like lovers.

Taylor's initial queasiness at such unspeakable acts subsided when she remembered that they were all evacuees. _Is this the norm? _the sixteen-year-old girl looked down at herself and saw that to them, she looked to be abnormal. As was Hogarth, her heart gave a little swell, and a droid that refused to act on his programming; she had to find out how he was. Taylor deeply cared for Hogarth, but he had left on his own accord. When the time came to find him she would volunteer to go first and see him. _God, please help him._

She didn't bother looking out the long, paneled windows as she had the first night, but strode with purpose to a closed door. Assorted gazes fell on her back as she knocked on the sliding metal, she folded her arms under her small bust and tapped a foot on the floor.

A minute passed and the door flew open to reveal a man of possibly Korean descent, he gave her a good-natured, slightly suspicious smirk. "Historical reenactment day, mmm?"

Taylor looked at him in some confusion before wrinkling her nose at his joke about her clothing. She tried to enter, but he barred her with folded arms in the doorway. He wasn't much older than her. Taylor shrugged innocently, and moved under his legs into the room as he whirled around with the doors closing. She smiled knowingly as he shook his head.

"Get back out there, please." The young man said, his cocksure attitude was gone.

"You've got know-how that I need." Taylor's smile deepened as she moved back behind him. He stood yard-stick straight as her hands touched his shoulders. "Why don't you just let me relieve some of that built-up tension while you tell me facts, hon. Just...loosen up."

"I am Inx, by the way." He introduced himself casually as she attempted to rub the stress out of his rock-solid shoulders, not giving her name. They turned out to be so stiffened in posture she couldn't penetrate. Eventually, Taylor wound up thumping her fists into them.

"What are you, immune?" she asked in frustration, stopping. "This works on most guys."

_Except for maybe Hogarth... _She was out of her league, and was craving for knowledge.

"I've had five wives myself." Inx turned to inform her flatly. "but they looked the part."

"I'm just flirting with you, how do people in 2200 do it?"

"I like girls who flirt," he smiled impertinently. "provided they're actually good at it."

Taylor sighed in defeat, some men looked convenient but were just not willing.

"I want to know about 7000," she told him, adding sincerely. "He's my friend, Inx."

He lifted a brow and waved a hand for her to follow him. "I can't promise anything."

"Right on." She said thankfully. "Sorry … I just-I'm just very worried over him."

"Caring about a droid so much…" Inx mused aloud. "You're some type of woman, lady."

"He's some type of robot."

x.x.x

"The day I believe you again is the day I'll eat my own arm off." Hogarth refused onward.

He had awoken to find himself in a small room laying on a blanket, it was shadowed and damp in the cramped space. A plate of brown pellets had appeared in his face and he had ate the dry-dough food in hunger while still not thinking straight, and had guzzled down a couple bowls of water. By the time he realized who had nourished him it was far too late.

Upchucking was no longer an option, so now he sat Indian-style on the floor before Kina.

"Stop holding out," he smirked challengingly at her. "How long will it take to kick in?"

"You're friends are dead, Hogarth." She said firmly. "Taylor and you-know-who."

"No, they made it." He shook his head, pressing his lips in a firm line. "They're safe, the Giant..."

Trant walked in at this moment, the doors shuttled back quickly. "See for yourself," he tossed a shard of smelly black metal tied with Taylor's bandana on the floor at his legs. All hope and reality for Hogarth suddenly stood freeze-framed, he felt very sick.

"_My God_…" His breath sucked into his once parched throat, making it dry again. "_No_."

"We are giving you the option of saving the rest of your family," Kina's voice came from somewhere. "you may become a 60's diplomat when we return to your time in precisely eight months. You see, Hogarth McCoppin-Hughes, _our _atmosphere won't last forever."

"That's why we will go back to your time with the new one-million droids, courtesy of 7000." Trant said to him --- Hogarth barely heard him. "We will colonize there with the rest of the Omega D.C., once we conquer it we will then make new laws. The copies…"

He didn't tune them out, he didn't do anything. Finally, Hogarth just rolled over on his side and shut his eyes. Something warm and round was placed into his open hands then.

They left as he raised his hot, heavy lids to see a metal orb of gentle yellow was in them.

There was a small form inside of it. Hogarth worked silently and meticulously to tie the shard of metal and the bandana to the softly glowing ball. _Super-robot-baby, _he thought in a failed attempt to feel something. He slid on his jacket lying next to him, and brought the copied version of the Giant close against his chest. Hogarth cradled it against his heart, much like he had with Julie the time she had been pushed down.

x.x.x

The heavy doors of the inner chambers unlocked as Inx led Taylor back out into the hall where the refuges no longer were, they had been blatantly refused any information on the Giant and made to leave by a gruff, African American official. While ignoring Taylor's pleas, he had also taken the time to reprehend Inx on his conducting. Apparently a form of law and due process did exist in the future --- very strict, binding moral codes to go by.

That, and the fact that this wing of the medical facility was a critical care unit.

"It's out of my hands." He said apologetically as she went to go sit on the floor. "Sorry."

"Couldn't we sneak…" Taylor trailed off at his cross look. "It's all right, we tried Inx."

"Want me to walk you to your room?"

She shook her head, and watched him leave her with some reluctance. Taylor heaved a sigh. That's when a door slid open and an arrangement of medical supplies caught her attention, two nurses walked in garbed in orange jumpsuits with blue, plaid-looking skirts. What may have been an electronic map also caught her eye as the doors closed together.

Taylor smiled at the opportunity and pulled off her remaining converse shoe. She waited patiently while another pair entered, obtained a floating gurney draped in blue, and left. The girl counted the moments before it would close, and flung the black shoe by it's laces.

She crossed her fingers and nearly fell over with happiness when the toe struck the door.

Briskly, Taylor made her way across the hall and slipped in under it."It pays to be petite." she said with a chuckle. "I am Taylor Roberta Evans, after all, _Grand _Mistress of Time."

The exaggeration aided to the fun she was feeling for being sneaky, life had gotten a little too serious for her. She carefully went through white-filmed drawers and took a step back when a collection of capped syringes caught her eyes. But, remembering what she wanted to accomplish, took a couple out and quickly twisted her dark blonde hair up in a top knot.

Next, she took an unlabelled uniform from the other wall and donned it on. Taylor neatly folded her clothes and slipped them under a skirted gurney. A bin of dorky-looking hats of dark blue caught her eye. Resignedly, she placed one on. Another bin held what looked like paper, origami birds in them. Taylor picked one up to look at it more closely. Before she could react, the object expanded out and slapped across her face in a green wrapper.

"Mmm! Mmm! Mmmmm." She found she could peel it down and instead of ripping it off she covered it to the bridge of her nose, smoothing it around her ovate mouth and chin. A scan of the map showed she was at a squiggly line that looked like a fork and shovel. The place where the Giant _might_ be at was a squiggly line marked Three-E. "OK, let's do it."

Taylor, tired but excited, knew she was in for a long walk as she headed in the opposite direction of the Critical Department. The easy way wasn't the right way; but sometimes it was the more fun way. Looking and acting the part, Taylor headed for the rearward of the facilities. People passed her by without a second glance as she moved determinedly forth.

x.x.x

She grew very uneasy as she made her way down the halls, there were people who were behind these doors who actually belonged there; she did not. The personnel (guards) who were assigned (stationed) at the doors (gates) would allow Taylor to pass without a word.

The only thing that kept her from backing down was the knowledge she had good reason for her actions, and the desperate want to see if the Giant had pulled through. Finally, in what felt like hours, the knee-aching Taylor arrived at the last vault marked in the foreign Omnish writing that looked like 3E. It was unguarded, but she would not try her card on it. Suddenly, a whizzing sound came and a panel slid open. Taylor cautiously stepped up.

"Password." A no-nonsense woman voice said expectantly. It sounded like a receptionist.

"I apologize." She squeezed out the lie. "I've forgotten-" Taylor groaned, she couldn't lie when people were so strict like this. "I'm from the past and I'd like to be let outside."

There was a summing up pause. "You are in our present, dear," The faceless woman on the other end said, unaffected. "and you must act accordingly. Impersonating a nurse, my Lord! Do you not possess common sense?" Taylor hung her head, she had come so close.

"I just wanted to see him."

"Him?" The voice inquired in surprise.

"The Giant!" Taylor snapped at the speaker, flustered and fed up. "I just want to _know_."

Her last word ended on a crack of emotion. She looked up with a wrinkled, resolute face at the door, her brows drawn in and her small lips pursued. If Rosa Parks, a black woman in her time she secretly admired, could be accounted for. So could Taylor Roberta Evans!

"I'll take my punishment," she told her. "but I will _not_ leave until I know about him."

A considering moment. "A stubborn attitude will get you nowhere, turn around." Taylor did not budge." the woman sighed, a little disgusted. "You teenagers, you mean well but you never accept the consequences of your actions." Her voice stopped so she could think.

"I'll accept my punishment _if _I can know about the Giant."

"You may see for yourself," She said finally. "and you will be assigned many months of duties for your trespassing, that's how it works." her voice softened in warning. "I won't tell you 'his' condition, you're old enough to handle it. You will not like what you see…"

"I want to see my friend." Taylor said readily.

The communicator beeped off and the cranks and gears churned inside as the heavy door swung open. Two metal clasps projected from the left wall, an automatic response, and secured the floating little gurney. Taylor took a breath, got her clothes and stepped out.

Night outside was one of fiction, the sky was a cosmic swirl of velvet black dipping in a eternal sea of deep red. Enormous, half-shadowed objects seemed to drift out in it's vast, endless distance like unimaginable, three-dimensional objects sunken in the mysteries of the universe. Taylor felt small and insignificant compared to them, but large and needed when she thought of the Giant. Swallowing her feelings, she peered around the building.

x.x.x

Hogarth registered the door sliding open, but he didn't bother to see who entered. There was a ringing in his ears, it rang with voices of doubt and denial that his friends were not gone. They couldn't be. His mission had been to divert trouble so that they had a chance.

"Hello?"

He couldn't have failed, he had gotten through to that golden droid after all.

"Mister." a small voice inquired him, scared but curious as well. "Where are we?"

_Giant, Taylor, you guys are out there. I know it_…The warmth in his arms was the reassurance.

"I want to be alone." Hogarth said bluntly to the person standing behind him.

"Could I sit by you?" The little boy asked. "I won't talk."

"Okay, fine." He whispered quietly, uncaring as he turned back and hugged the orb close.

Even if the lights had gone on, Hogarth would still be clutching it to him. The air smelt of dank earth and soil, but the presence of someone in the room made the space inside seem a bit wider. That's when Hogarth noticed the small boy was trembling slightly from where he sat.

He sat the orb half a foot from him, and slipped off his jacket. "Try this on, little buddy."

The nameless little boy allowed him to cover his shoulders. Hogarth then walked to the far side of the wall, bandana-covered metal orb in hand, and laid with his back against it. In doing this he would be able to see the boy and protect him when the door opened up.

He nearly sank into his slumber when realization that they may be gone hit him home.

"My name's Tress." The little boy managed to say before the crushing, heavy possibility sent Hogarth into a mind-numbing sleep. _They're gone. But, Tress? I remember that boy._

His dreams became consumed with those two boys he and the Giant had met last night, it had seemed like a century ago. Tress and him had won a game of laser ball or something to that effect. Memories of loved one's faces passed by in a slow, slide-show procession.

x.x.x

Taylor saw a large figure leaning forward, he sat with his back to the thick, metal-plated wall outside, his head was lowered but the large arch of a half-moon eye peering down in deep thought gave her a hopeful calmness. "Hey." She walked around the wall in greeting.

He made no attempt to look her way, but Taylor realized quickly that he hadn't heard her.

Bringing a balled hand up, she gave the wall a few, good pounds. "Knock, knock."

The Giant's eye opened fully and he turned to look at her, but the other side of his face was in the shadows. He moved his shutters together; he didn't recognize her. That's when she saw that her nurse's garb was still on. With a sheepish smile, the sixteen-year-old girl took off the goofy Pinocchio hat to let her hair down and stripped off the face mask cover.

"T-Taylor?" He said in surprise, his voice had returned but still held a static undercurrent.

"It's just little, old me." She assured him as she stepped forward into the beam of his eye light. "How are you feeling?" he cast it down for her to see that his enormous body was bond in a metal-reinforced body cast, all three of his limbs were locked in stabilization-looking chambers outside while his left arm was bonded in strong, clear durable material.

"Not good, huh?" she said kindly, and glanced down at a pile of scrap metal by him that had remained untouched. "You should probably eat something..." The Giant scooted it forward and gave an uninterested wave at it. "Humph." He only turned to face her partly.

"It'd be easier to talk with you if you'd face me completely. Please?"

The Giant sighed heavily, and moved his face so that she could see. Taylor gave a gasp of fright at what she saw, the light of his other eye revealed only half of his face remained to behold. She couldn't see what the insides looked like, it was a deep crook of hidden gray. He looked down in acceptance of her repulsion. Taylor crossed her arms to her small bust.

"You should have told me." She said in reference to his weapons, the Giant looked up at her as she said in a hurt voice. "I would have understood." There was a pause for thought.

"You're right." He confirmed to her in an honest voice, acknowledging the justification of Taylor's words to him. "I _should _have told you." She nodded and backed away a little.

"Well, I just wanted to come and see how you were..."

The Giant lifted the tray of scrap metal, set it off to the side and gave the floor a couple of inviting pats. Taylor smiled at that and walked over to sit a few feet from his twenty-foot tall legs, she sat down in a similar position as he brought his arm up to rest upon his knee.

"What a spooky night, it looks like those things in the sky might fall down on us." The Giant focused his light on them. "They won't." he reassured her, but it didn't sound like he knew if she really meant that or not. "I was kidding." Taylor said to him. There was a halt in speaking as the Giant seemed to be thinking about something that was burdening.

"Do you know how you got this way?"

"No, not really." He turned to look down at her with a need to know, and she met his eye with a will to tell him. "Archer said that you held in your weapons for so long that they somehow exploded inside of you, but I guess the buildings back in Washington D.C. are going to be used to fix your injuries." She turned curious at his ninety-degree turn around.

"I did it." The Giant said, surprise and elation in his gravelly voice. "I stopped them!"

Taylor gave a skeptical "uh" scoff that made him look down at her. "Yes, you did." she told him informatively. "But you paid a very big price, Giant. Look at yourself." He did for her sake. "You're hurt. Listen," Taylor rested a hand on his finger when he placed his hand down to the ground to listen. "I think what you did was very brave and admirable."

His head tilted slightly at her reasoning, he was beginning to wonder about something.

"But we could have found some other way…" she looked down and touched the small neck brace they had placed on her for minor whiplash; it was from the jarring fly session.

The rest of the impact from that terrible experience came back and she looked away.

Taylor felt him finger the brace very gently, when she turned to him again there were tears that nestled in her eyes. "You could have been killed, we both could have been." He allowed her to move his hand down as she said, eyes-to-eye. "I care about you." his upper shutter lowered a little. "And with all of my family back in the past and Hogarth…" her voice trailed. "Promise me something."

The Giant nodded, beginning to comprehend what she was getting at.

"Next time we're faced up against something like this, let's work as a team. Okay? Besides, there's no 'I' in team. Well, there is in Iron Giant. But still…" she smiled when he gave a lift of his metal mandible. "As a team?" he turned his hand palm up and she clutched his big index finger.

"As a team. Y'know, if you don't already know, I'd like to teach you to read and write."

"Maybe sometime." He said musingly.

_Time_. The Grand Mistress of it was experiencing some doubt.

They looked to the lingering, omnipresent sky that swirled like Taylor's T-shirt and saw that the four silhouettes of objects were actually --- Taylor swallowed hard at this one --- planets. Fully, visible planets. The Giant wasn't as taken aback, as he seemed so much a part of it. His peacefulness toward the great unknown helped to ease her own inner fear :

To become a part of infinite time and space someday, she feared becoming forevermore.

"What are they called?" he asked finally with some natural curiosity. His static lessened.

Taylor smiled, how easily he shifted from an all-knowing sage to a wondering child.

"Planets." She told him, continuing on thoughtfully. "Let's see, there's the moon, all planets have moons, Mercury, Venus…" she sighed dreamily. "In Greek Mythology, Venus was the Goddess of Love. She was one of the most important ones of them all."

"You love Hogarth?"

"Well, she didn't-." Taylor felt her heart skip a beat, she turned to him. "What?"

"Are you in love with Hogarth?" He asked, genuinely interested.

"Oh," she gave the Giant a clever look. "I know what you're trying to do…"

He cocked his head. "You do?"

Taylor sewed her brows together and rubbed her chin. "You really want to know?"

"Mmm-hmm." The Giant gave a nod.

"That's odd." She said to herself. "How?" Taylor looked at him, and measured what she wanted him to know." Well, normally when a guy asks that question he doesn't mean it."

"Well, _I_ mean it." He said with patient, foward honesty.

Taylor turned away to look outward, twirling her fanny-length hair. "Giant, real love… Unconditional love, just doesn't happen overnight," She kept on with her hedging, the big calm light behind her seemed a little brighter. "I mean, I love Hogarth in the friend-sense. But, it takes time to blossom and grow. Like a rose. And sometimes it really doesn't work out… okay, a lot of times it doesn't work out. But-." Her words ceased. All was now quiet.

She became a little curious, and turned with a wide-eyed expression to see that the Giant had lowered his entire upper body down to her level. His expression was one of full fascination and attentiveness as he rested the half of his lower metal jaw on his knuckles, Taylor looked him fully in the half-hollow face now. There was no way of getting away from him, she felt her defenses lowering at his friendly, unknowing lack of personal space.

Taylor opened her mouth to speak.

To be continued…

XD


	15. Serenity

**A/N: **Has it been this long already? Goodness. Anyway, our heroes will reunite in time but as always it isn't in the way you'd expect. Thanks for stickin' with me this far. Some of our heroes will be dealing with their issues very differently, you might be surprised…

'.' God, grant me the serenity to accept what I cannot change, the courage to change what I can and the wisdom to know the difference. '.'

I.

Taylor smiled and brushed her bangs behind her ear. "I love Hogarth, Giant."

He started to lean back with a satisfied look when she reached out and caught his retreating iron under bite - Taylor was going to get the record straight for him now.

The Giant tapped the back of her hand and she folded both on her lap, her feet were tucked beneath herself. "But," he ventured inquisitively. "Are you _in_ love with him?"

"I'm not sure yet." Was her final answer. "And I won't be until we both meet again."

That appeased his curiosity, but set the mood for missing their friend. Taylor sighed and gazed back up at the sky. "Those planets are different from Earth because they have no oxygen on them." He looked at her as she explained. "That's what people need to breathe in order to live on our planet, but because the atmosphere is failing we may just lose it."

She inhaled and exhaled slowly to demonstrate breathing.

The Giant brought his shutters together in speculation. " That's what Archer and, _meh_, Kina said I was built for. But… I know I was designed a weapon." He shook his head at details. "What makes the atmosphere go away, Taylor? Does it leave because it has to?"

She chuckled a little before saying more seriously. "No, that's not it. People believe that it's caused by burning fuels, like what cars run on. Or like what powers your rocket jets."

The Giant gave a panicked gasp and immediately leaned down to inspect his incased feet.

"Giant." Taylor said with amused patience. He met her eyes. "You're a worry wart." The Giant placed his hand to his hip. "It's _not _something to be kidding about." he said huffily.

His much smaller friend shook her head. "I know, but converting to be totally eco-cool is not going to save the rest of the world. The energy they use now isn't fossil fuel-related."

"The energy they use now helps save the atmosphere and bring it back?"

"Well, yes and no. Archer's niece told me it conserves the air, but it doesn't make air."

He leaned back, unpleasantly resigned.

"I didn't mean to add to your list of vices." She apologized. "I just say the wrong things sometimes." The Giant shook his head. "It's all right." Taylor gave him a bit of a piqued study. "Aside from the weapons thing, do you like being a robot? I mean, you see me…"

The iron man met her wondering umber eyes, got an idea and lowered his hand over her head. Taylor watched in a little confusion as he than rose it over his head. He then leveled his hand to where his other one would be at, and she nodded at this. It made perfect sense.

"I feel the same way." Taylor narrowed her eyes at him. "But no more worrying over all that we can't change, okay?" The Giant placed his thumb to his temple and explained at her puzzled look. "I call it wigging out, but okay. None of this." he waggled his fingers.

She touched her rose bud lips to suppress a giggle. "Heh, funny robot…"

They grew quiet now as they looked to the planets above.

"It's sad about the way the world is, but this view is really spectacular." Taylor said.

x.x.x

The Giant looked down at his first female friend, she was so much different then men. He noticed a sort of flower-shaped object abstractly placed on her shirt. _A rose?_ Carefully, so as not to arouse Taylor's attention, the Giant reached over and picked up a sheet of scrap that remained uneaten. He began to craft the thin grey metal around entirely meticulously.

With a few twigs of aluminum, some strings of tin and a few teething nibbles to get the grooves for the petals, the Giant sculpted a detailed replica of a metal rose. He noticed Taylor leaning sideways and moved a hand to her shoulder to keep her from falling over.

That's when he realized she was sound asleep. The Giant rotated his wrist so that the girl rolled over in his iron palm. She was small and not much taller than Hogarth had been as a little boy. Gingerly, he lowered his grey index finger and brushed some of her long hair wisps back behind her ear. Her body was so different looking; as delicate as a deer's was.

The Giant realized she meant so much more then a deer, but her feminine appearance was as entrancing to him as the graceful deer's. He brought his shutters together as the pained memory re-entered his mind. It hadn't scared him, but it had been a terrible awakening of his size and power. In poignant remembrance, the Giant gently traced Taylor's curvy side.

Two very tiny lumps on her chest helped to define the difference of the two sexes; he let his head tilt to the side in wonder and curled a finger down. The Giant was inches from making contact when he hesitated. Somehow, he felt very uncomfortable with doing this.

Deciding not to follow through, the Giant refrained from exploring any further. Taylor's mouth curled up in a pleased smile. "They're called breasts and they belong to a woman." she explained considerately. "A real man shouldn't ever touch them without permission."

He watched as she motioned to the back and front of her legs. "Butt, vagina. They're a no-go also." The Giant started to set her down when she held up a hand. "Hold on, buster. You can look at me, but if the temptation gets to be too much then put me down."

Sadness entered his white optic.

Taylor peered up at him. "It's just common decency."

He shook his head.

"All right…?"

"You make me think of a deer I saw once before it was shot."

She looked down in thought. "There's nothing wrong with hunting, as long as people-."

"A-hem."

The Giant looked up to a catwalk to see that Archer was looking out at the sky as if he hadn't heard a thing. "Sorry to interrupt, I just wanted to see how you were doing. If my calculations are correct than your regenerating recovery should be done in four months."

The Giant had no clue how long that was, but nodded with relief that he would heal.

"You are wondering about your friend?" Archer said seriously now.

"Where is he?"

The man's furrowed face deepened. " Deep within the earth's crust. Where? We will not know for eight months. According to my daughter's project, the scans will develop and they will travel back to your time in 1964; back to _when_ you live," he explained to the Giant "I will say this, if those clones reach their peak level they will all be unstoppable."

"Kina and Trant have Hogarth too?"

"Yes, he's captive. The unattached communicator on his tongue shows us he's alive and well, but…" Archer sighed heavily. "a possible hostage. I do not blame you if you won't trust us, but we have squadrons around the world willing to intercept them on that day."

The Giant sat up straight and half of his face revealed a paneling of cybernetic circuits.

"I know you want your friend back," He continued on. "That is why, on that day, they're many who would like for you to lead our voluntary forces. I would consider it an honor."

The idea struck the Giant with some surprise, did he really mean _that _much to them? It started to make more sense to him. That was why people had looked at him so strangely earlier that day. They weren't afraid of him, they'd been fascinated that he tried to act like them.

"I can see you need time to consider." Archer said and turned to leave.

"Archer." They met gazes as the Giant said determinedly. "I'll lead them. But, when we get there I am going to find Hogarth. Than him, Taylor and I are going to go back home."

The man nodded with a mutual smile. "Just as it should be." He frowned a little when the Giant lifted Taylor up to him so that he could take her in. Archer lifted his crippled hands up, shrugged haplessly and bided good night before leaving. "Besides, she would not go."

"It's just for tonight." Taylor assured him in a sleepy murmur. She hadn't opened an eye.

After he left, the Giant lowered her down to the ground and gently slid her off. A breeze of balmy cool swept over them causing Taylor to give a little shiver. The Giant noted this and poised a hand over her. _"If the temptation gets to be too much…" _he cupped her body.

She lifted her head when he offered his thumb so she could rest her cast neck on it, and laid it down. He looked upon Taylor in fondness, and settled back for a deep, restful sleep.

"Were you afraid?"

"Of the Motorix?" The Giant asked with his eye closed.

"No… of," he heard her swallow hard. "Of the Rockwell thing."

He caught part of her meaning. "I didn't want to, if that's what you mean. I still did it."

"Okay," She said promptly, trying to sound convinced. "That's good."

The Giant picked the thin croissant-rolled rose up between his ring and pinky fingers, he placed it next to her stomach and cupped his hand over her again. "Don't be afraid to die, Taylor. But you have to remember to live." The girl unfurled her knees from her stomach.

"Thank you, Giant." She said quietly with a smile.

"Thank you too."

His stomach gurgled.

"Would you eat the rest of that scrap metal already? Your one-man army routine is old."

"For breakfast I will."

His insides growled their protest.

"Um…"

Taylor propped up on an elbow and waved a hand at the scrap. "I can wait." She laughed.

II.

Three weeks in the catacombs of Washington D.C. Omega…

Hogarth walked up to face Trant amongst the others who had chosen to follow the fallen, ungrateful teens; namely Kina and Trant. If it wasn't enough of a shock that this was the exact place where the iron from the Giant came from, finding out Trant was Kent's great-great grandson just added to his miseries. Hogarth crossed his arms and averted his eyes.

"So?" he spoke in an indifferent voice. "Are you going to tell me any more details?"

"You've gone three days without food," Trant reminded him. "If you want some, submit to my authority over you and accept your authority over everyone in these barracks." He gave a frustrated grunt when Hogarth said not a thing and reached around behind his back.

Hogarth followed his movements from the side of his eye, and moved a hand around his own in correlation. He made a quick incision through his belt just as Trant struck out to taser the arm that was behind him. Hogarth jerked half his belt out through the loops and caught Trant's wrist just as he tried to strike him, now he seized the tray of wheat squares.

"Hamster food, again?" Hogarth raised a brow and whipped the belt back; giving Trant an unintentional but unregretful Indian burn. "Tell your chief to get a new recipe book."

He headed back for his canopy bed with the food pellets in hand, leaving behind a very indignant and fuming Trant. The sixteen-year-old passed by a bunk of boys and then over to an elderly couple. Without expression, he handed them some. Hogarth then walked up and over his bed to a pregnant woman who had an Iron Giant-copied orb beside her. She gave him a questioning look at his generosity to which he shrugged, and left wordlessly.

Hogarth swallowed a hand-full of pellets and satisfied his need for food before he gave a flop back on the bed, the woman's "why?" expression generated a need to know within him. _Why _was he going on? He didn't know, he just knew he had to. Over the days, any real purpose had eluded him. His closest friends were gone; a mist stung his azure eyes as he pulled the bandana-wrapped orb close to his side.

"Hogarth?" Someone said. He had heard this voice before back when he had first awoken, it had sounded like Tress's. When Hogarth had opened his eyes again Tress had been gone and only his jacket was there. The voice asked again: "Hogarth?" He sat up and turned slowly.

"Tress!"

The little boy was sitting by Ven and a group of other boys on a canopy a few bed blocks away. "Hogarth!" Tress hollered excitedly and began zigzagging his way around, he just about tripped over himself to get over to the teenager."Hogarth! Hogarth! Hogarth! Ho-."

"Hey there, little buddy." He greeted the breathlessly happy boy heartily when he went to hug him around the waist. "Whoa! Ha-ha. Step back, Tress. Let me take a look at ya pal."

"Where's the Giant?" The little boy asked up with a wide smile.

"What?" His question took him by surprise.

"The Giant, is he here with you to take us back to Omega?"

Hogarth felt his happiness evaporate, and he pulled the child onto the bed. They sat with their legs folded as Hogarth asked him if he knew what a soul was. "No." He grasped his hand in his larger ones as he explained. "Well, a soul is something that is inside you and me Tress. And it was inside the Giant as well. Tress… a soul lives forever. Understand?"

The boy nodded, enraptured by his wisdom. When Hogarth looked up Ven had taken up residency beside his bed with a disgruntled expression, the kid was only about thirteen or fourteen but he still had the same in charge attitude. "I want you to come back over here."

"But, Hogarth-."

"Now!" Ven snapped.

At his tone, Hogarth rose to his full height of five-foot-nine and Tress scampered to get behind Ven. The five-foot-three boy stood his ground against him, but Hogarth was not in the mood to deal with his naivety. "I was giving your brother hope." He explained calmly.

"Just what he needs," Ven said smartly. "More lies. In case you do not know, our parents lied to us when they said they were coming with us." he turned to leave back to the others.

Tress rubbed at his eyes and did as his brother did.

"Ven, come on…" Hogarth said disappointedly. He really didn't want them to go.

"I bet you and your droid planned this all along." Ven grumbled. "And this soul thing-."

The young man caught his shoulder and turned him around, saying firmly. "Don't _ever_ turn your back on someone who can take you down." he cautioned him. "Listen, I've lost people I love just like you have. We're in the same boat." The look Ven gave him made Hogarth feel foreign, so he rephrased. "I mean, we need to watch out for each other Ven."

"Why should I trust you?"

"Because," Hogarth looked away to mask his hurt, trying to keep an ache from welling him in his throat. "Just like you, I still have people I love that I need to protect."

Ven seemed to consider him a moment. "Show me if you know our way of greeting."

He held his hand up in the standard Alpha handshake - his hand up and fingers crooked.

Ven's eyes widened.

_Nice going, Hughes. No wonder you never finished boy scouts. _

"All right," he said with a will to learn. "Show me the right way."

Ven lifted his hand up uneasily and turned it over, Hogarth watched as he slid them into his and they locked digits. The two met eyes and Hogarth felt muscles contract inside of his mouth he hadn't used for many days; he smiled an actual smile. Tress raced up to give him another hug. Patiently, he placed his hand on his scruffy hair and moved Tress back.

"So we're a family now?"

Hogarth ruffled his hair. "If you want us to be, Tress."

A startled gasp escaped when they turned, and a few of Kina's closest 'friends' dressed in more decorative white uniforms were standing behind them. "Kina would like to see you, she has assigned you to our hallways." A pretty, raven-haired woman in her thirties said.

"You're not leaving, are you?" The little boy whispered up at Hogarth in fright. He gave the child a reassuring look as he didn't want to make a scene in front of everyone. "I'll be around for you, Tress. So will your brother." Hogarth pointedly met Ven's brown eyes to which he smiled down slightly at Tress. "Hogarth is right, Tress." He promised him now.

"Okay, you can go then."

"Don't think I won't be droppin' in now and again," Hogarth told him. "So make sure you keep your nose clean," he lowered a finger when Tress looked down before giving his nose a playful flick. "and your chin up." The boy laughed a little and watched curiously as Hogarth reached up his sleeve. "Before I go, I want you to have something."

"What?"

Hogarth pulled out a torn, rolled up magazine and handed it to him. "It's a comic book."

"A comic-what?"

"Hogarth," the woman insisted. "Kina does not like to be kept waiting."

He turned to give her a look over his shoulder. "And do you like being her errand lady?"

The woman turned confused.

"Why are women in bras and panties in this comic book thing?" Tress asked innocently.

Hogarth could have keeled over; things had been a little off for him lately. He quickly swamped the pin-up calendar in his jacket sleeve and pulled out the water-stained first issue of his most prized possession. The boy brought his brows together and uncurled it.

"Between you and me," Hogarth whispered down in Tress's ear. "Right below the Iron Giant, Superman is the greatest superhero there ever was." He stood up and gave Ven a nod of understanding, who in turn nodded back. All of them parted ways on the same side.

"Thank you Hogarth." Tress said in a voice of wonder.

"You're welcome, pal."

Hogarth now had a purpose again, he was going to do whatever it took to help these boys; they needed him and his family back home needed him. He knew that they would be going back in time and Hogarth was ready to do what he could to protect all of them. Whatever it would take, he was going home. Hogarth gathered the orb up in his arm and left his friends.

III.

June 8th 1964 in a Maine state law office…

Julianne McCoppin sat outside in the wheelchair her daddy had told her she would have to use now, he was constantly by her side and she never opened her eyes without having him to see. But that was all right, they needed to stay together since Julie's mother had to leave them. The little girl pulled at the white lapel of her dress as she heard her father talk.

"There's no way around the system?" He was asking desperately.

"I'm well aware of your situation, Mr. McCoppin. As well as the stories that have been circulating through out this side of the country with no clear, concrete answer. But, unless Mr. Daniel Barnes concedes to admitting he's part of some governmental operation than your testimony of Russian invaders will land yourself a place at the ka-ka-kook society."

"What do you suggest I do?.!" The pinched, clipped voice her father used caused Julianne to fold her arms to herself. "There's no real evidence of whose at fault here, I'm up to my sleeves in funeral costs…" a small, choking noise told Julie her father was coming back.

"It's okay, Daddy." She gave the door a pat with her small hand, whispering. "It's okay."

"Julie, dear."

Gorden's mother, a large, heavy set woman with sandy-blonde hair, appeared in the door of the office. Julie turned to her with a welcoming smile - she loved seeing other people now more then ever. "Hello Mrs. Rhinestone, did Apples come with you? I do miss him."

x.x.x

Bethany Rhinestien simply wrapped her big arms around the child. Her arrested husband had been charged with leaving a crime scene; which Mr. McCoppin had testified with no regret. Somehow her Gorden was able to sit down to write a report for the victim's son who had it due three week's earlier, Beth had been astonished to find her duller-then-dirt son typing out a five-page paper for Daniel Barnes, who was a suspect in the murder case. Thankfully Gorden and Mr. McCoppin had both been cleared as suspects.

"Mrs. Rhinestone, my arms are getting squished."

"Land sakes," She moved back and brushed back Julianne's bangs. "How've you been, darlin'? Your papa feedin' you okay?" The little girl nodded out of courtesy. "schoolin-."

"I'm telling you!" Dean's voice boomed. "It was either Sergey Dimelo or Mans…" his voice trailed off in consideration of others. "They may think I'm crazy, and maybe I am. But I will not see an innocent man who saved my daughter's life take the blame for this."

The door jerked open and out walked a very unsettled Mr. McCoppin, he wore a faded black business suit with his hair gelled back and his movements edgy from an apparent lack of caffeine-supplied beverages. Both adults met stiff gazes a moment before Dean took the handle bars of his daughter's wheelchair, and rolled her out without one word.

"Just lost her mama, could at least send her to live with kin. " Bethany berated him hushedly.

x.x.x

_Eight … _The man thought shakily. _Eight months before I go to the Supreme Court._

Life had literally gone from bad to worse, Dean had to contend with being strong for his daughter, Hogarth being missing and Annie. Dear, sweet Annie. He loved her very much, but he could never accept what she had done. Why couldn't it have been him? Why? Why?

"Are you mad at Gorden and his mom, Daddy? Is it because Mama's gone?" Julie asked him. "It's okay, Hogarth will come home." she tried assuring him. "Daddy, are you sad?"

Dean leaned down and kissed the top of her curly black hair. "No," he said. "Not at all."

_I wonder if I'll ever see my son again. _Tears collected in his brown eyes suddenly as he pushed Julianne out to the new Chevy truck his telescope design had bought him. It was what Annie had wanted for the longest time, and it was Dean's way of honoring his late wife. A sculpture was never going to do that; it would never bring back the one he loved. His art meant nothing to him now.

To be continued…


	16. A time before turbulence: Part 1

**A/N:** Our characters will take some risky chances in these next chapters. Read on! Oh, and old characters resurface. ;)

December 10th 1964, Washington D.C...

I.

Dean James McCoppin strode down the halls with his well-paid lawyer by his side; he hardly saw him. The main mission on the thirty-eight-year-old's mind was to have the communist and ex-American put into prison for the rest of their lives. He had had this on his mind ever since the day he had awoken in the hospital. Thankfully Daniel was cleared as a suspect after Dimelo and Mansley had been apprehended in New Jersey:

That was where Taylor and Trisha Evans had been from.

"Let me do the talking," his lawyer briefed. "And above all else, do not make a scene."

"You're getting your pay." Dean said tersely, he didn't feel like being criticised.

"How you expect your testimony of Russian alien invaders to succeed is beyond me."

The man looked down at his new shoes that were ridiculously sheen as they walked, his daughter and Mrs. Rhinestien were outside the great white pillars waiting. Dean hadn't spoken to anyone in Rockwell for months, and that was just fine with him. They had all shunned him seven years earlier before the Iron Giant incident had happened.

Besides, this was his business. Not theirs.

Dean watched the huge oak doors open as they walked into expansive chambers of justice. His breath caught in his throat at the overwhelming sense of power and of prevailance that had been obtained over the years. For the first time he wondered if he had gone over board, and instead of feeling fully confident he felt fully overwhelm.

_What am I doing? People are watching Dr. King receive his peace prize, this private court date was a mistake. They're going to throw me in an asylum, _Dean wilted inside. _They're going to take Julianne away from me, they-_ Someone caught his eye in the long rows of dark woodened pews, it looked to be Mrs. Alkins the local gardener toward the back.

The man thought he would faint from amazement; every pew was filled with the adult citizens of Rockwell, Maine. They all turned to him with looks of respect and full-fledge understanding. If that wasn't enough of a shock, members of the military units sent to Rockwell seven years ago were also seated at the front; General Rogard at the front.

"Dean," he said under his breath cordially. The man was older, and somehow humbler since the last time they had seen one another. Dean managed a side smile and went to sit in between his lawyer and a well-groomed Daniel Barnes. Gorden had remained behind as he had to repeat the tenth grade and was obtaining a very high B average.

"If I could turn back the hands of time..." Mr. Barnes whispered to him ruefully.

"It's all right, Dan." Dean looked him in the eye. "They can only turn forward."

He looked onward as the opposing party, both rightfully hand-cuffed, entered.

II.

December, 10th 2201...

Taylor made her way down the main marketing channel of Honolulu Hawaii, she was dressed in one of few jumpsuits she had personally tie-dyed herself with her blonde hair wrapped up and secured with one of many tropical flowers. The system and flow of this world was a strange one, but she had adapted by acting as a droid fixer aid for her impersonating a nurse months earlier - it had all been worth it to help the Giant.

She had advocated that droids be given the chance to learn as humans if they were willing, along with other advocates who were supporters, but nothing had come into affect yet. The world was regrouping and reorganizing, there was talk of forming new sets of government. Also, this was the day that Omega D.C. would be remerging from 'literally' under the world. Taylor hadn't thought about it, except for Hogarth of course.

And this was hard. She really did miss him.

The seventeen-year-old girl waved cheerily at all of the vendors and locals as a clean, widespread white wall with broad steps and an enormous roofed archway came upon her path. It was a large, tropical courtyard that was designed for recovering patients.

Taylor was about to start up it when someone touched her shoulder. "You could climb aboard my hover scooter," Inx montioned her to get on behind him. "It ascends fast."

She smiled knowingly, her hand on her hip as she shifted a foam-wrapped object to her other. "Nice try, Inx. But you know that's not for people who can walk without any trouble getting around." The Korean young man frowned slightly. "Some other time."

"Time doesn't seem relevant to you." He mentioned casually.

"Why worry over it when there's nothing I can do about it?" She replied.

"I have noticed you spend all of your free time with the Giant," Inx mentioned, a little more serious now as he simply hopped off and pushed the scooter back. "as well as the fact that you support the droid movement. I find it is not a healthy practice, dear."

"And why not?" Taylor answered as they walked, eyeing the scooter as it drifted off in the opposite direction. "He can learn just like you and I can. If it's possible that others like his kind can communicate with us on an equal level, then I'll support the decision."

"It isn't because he is a droid," Inx deliberately explained. "It was at first, but I have grown use to the idea." he took her hand in his and she looked into his sincere eyes." I have never met anyone like you, but you've clinged to your own time. Taylor, I just-"

"Inx," Taylor silenced him with a finger to his lips. "I do love you, like I love Archer and his niece. You're all like my future friends. But Hogarth and the Giant are who I plan to go back with. _That's _why we can't ever be more then friends. I am-I'm very sorry, Inx."

"You don't even know if he loves you," The man clasped her shoulders and Taylor felt a rush of fear in her - Gorden Rhinestien had held her this way once. She shrugged her shoulders back and looked him straight in the eyes as she stepped up backwards.

"Taylor, I have so much to offer you."

_Like your first five wives, I'll bet. _"There's things that Hogarth has that you don't."

"Such as?"

"Well," Taylor looked up with a thoughtful smile."He's honest, funny, very sensitive to the way other people are feeling..." she looked at the deflated twenty-five-year-old with sympathy. "Inx, you're a swell guy. But, honey, we can't be together. I'm sorry."

They parted ways. Taylor _did _want him in some ways. He was an intelligent man, but he just didn't click with her as Hogarth did, Inx was (if not too smart for his own good) desperate and Hogarth would need her. The three of them, a time-travelling trio, had started this together and that was how it would end. Besides, they were both Taylor's boys. Her past friends.

x.x.x

An oasis type of setting lay within the bounds of spacious white walls, that led out to the vast beach front, palm trees grew in collective groves around it's perimeter and added to the relaxed atmosphere. People (patients, nurses and visitors) went about their business with the occasional droid offering assistance - all but one. It was not that he hadn't offered, but the Giant's recovery had been a slow and prolonged one.

He sat off by an open walkway, in one piece with only a single line running down his face as an indicator that had once been in a mangled state. Since Taylor had taken it upon herself to educate him like a schoolteacher, he was taking the time to read the computerized edition of a novel while munching on a plater of scrap metal by his side.

The Giant was about to take a bite from a rusted motor to some solar craft when he felt something on his foot. He lowered his front shutters in wonder and glanced down to see a person was staring up at him with large eyes. It was a young Hawaiian boy.

"Aloha," he said dazedly, waving absently. "I'm Tomius. And you're ,you're the-"

"Just call me Giant." He said amiably.

"Well, bye then." Tomius turned around and raced away back to another boy.

"Bye." The Giant waved and shook his head slightly as he left, unbothered by it.

This was the way some acted toward him, though most avoided him. There had been one fanatical person who had approached him once and had latched onto his foot. He had attempted to slide the young girl off, but she had clung to his hand. The Giant had then pinned her arms gently to her sides, and lifted her chin up using his middle finger.

"Ohmygosh, I can't believe I'm acutally meeting a living legend and a droid at that. My names Admera, but that's not imporant. _You _are important. Ohmygosh, you were, like, never meant to transmute but because you, ohmygosh, collided with a missile. You..."

At this point the Giant had delicately picked her up by her light green shirt collar, lifted her up to the walkway and had started her with a small push in the other direction. Since there was an amplified sound receiver installed in his head, he was able to hear people that were talking either near or a few hundred yards away at will. But he never did use it.

Taylor had told him most people thought he 'wanted' to be left alone.

The Giant looked around at the passing people, chatting with one another. Many had droids accompanying them. _Hogarth... _He looked down with a heavy, longing sigh. It was today that he was finally going to rescue his best friend, the thought of leading a whole fleet of voluntary fighters against Kina and Trant was still a new idea for him. In his mind he was on his own separate mission; finding Hogarth and bringing him back.

He lifted another handful of scrap up to his mouth when he saw a peculiarly wrapped item of white in the rusted pile of junk. The Giant was about to single it out when he felt someone land on his other shoulder. Curiously, he turned to see a chipper Taylor.

"Hey." She greeted him with a smile.

The Giant returned one. "Hi." his voice generated a bit of static, causing her to finger her ear inside. "Oh, sorry." The girl climbed onto his hand as he set her down. "Still a little rusty, huh?" Taylor inquired sympathically. He nodded at this and shrugged it off.

"Mmm."

"So, are you reading Gone With The Wind like I assigned?" She asked. "It's really cool the way you've picked up reading and writing these last few months, Giant. Of course you haven't had much else to do, but still..." Taylor saw his uneasy look. "What's up?"

"You said Gone With The Wind?" He scratched at the grass. "I thought that you said to read Huckleberry Finn..." The Giant fumbled at her unconvinced expression. "Oh, all right. I know you said Gone With The Wind Taylor, but this is more interesting to me."

"Giant," she shook her head, saying with a little exasperation. "You just can't go and read whatever you want. If this really was school, you would've gotten a bad grade."

"But if you already learn how to read, why read what everyone else wants you to?"

Taylor frowned slightly at his challenge. "That's not the way it works, but if that's the way you want," she noticed him eyeing the package and got in his way as he tried to reach down for it, saying with a pointed smile. "Ah, ah. We have yet to do our math."

The Giant set the computer screen novel aside. "No math." He said reposedly.

"Yes, math." Taylor said promptly and pulled out some change from her pocket. "You do so well with Science and English, but for some reason you're just not very good in Math and History. " she arranged them on the grass as she talked. "You know, if you learned more then addition and subtraction than you could learn to multiply and divide. " The Giant brought his shutters together at hearing this; how could he put how he really felt about math politely? "And then I could teach you Algebra which will lead us to Chemistry..."The Giant tapped at his big chin.

"What's chemistry?" He asked with intrigue.

She raised her brows at him as she stood back to reveal a coin clock. "A cool fushion of science _and_ math." Taylor gestured at the change circle. "But that's for another time. OK Giant, what time is it?"

"Five."

"All right... how about now?"

"Seven-fifteen."

"Great." Taylor began picking up some of the change while the Giant began helping at the other end, and helping himself to a little penny nibbling. "So what'd I have here?"

"A nickel, five cents."

She smiled and flicked up a large coin.

"Half a dollar." The Giant responded confidently.

"And, here's a trick one." Taylor held up two quarters.

"Fifty cents." He noticed her pay close attention to the coins as she placed them back in her hand. "I ate some of the pennies. Did they mean something important to you?"

"It isn't that." She admitted with a drawn in breath. "It's just that Hogarth and I first met over a whole quarter thing. He-I-um, sort of called him something not nice and I-"

The Giant placed a finger tip upon Taylor's shoulder. "I _will _bring him back, Taylor." he assured her, his white eyes marked by somber commitment. "I'd never go back on my word about that. " The young woman smiled at his integrity. "Are you going to be all right?"

She nodded at him, reassured. They both turned to see Archer and his eight-foot-tall droid of dark blue approaching them. He nodded as a sign that they were ready. The Giant nodded back, and put a hand down for Taylor. She boarded it as he brought her up to his chest and gently gave her a hug. The girl sprawled her body up close to his.

x.x.x

Taylor thought she heard a sort of pumping noise inside, almost like a beat. The Giant moved her onto the walkway and moved on with Archer. "Bye." she said softly to him.

"I'll be back." He said with a lift of his lower shutters; his signature smile.

She watched as they left. The girl sighed deeply and headed in the direction of where the droid minor repair shop was. Trina, Archer's niece, worked as a part-time there. It was a long stretch if Taylor would find her there, she was probably working over time at the hospital wing but perhaps the two could meet up. Today would be a long one.

Taylor glanced over at the makeshift three-layer cake of bronze, copper and penny. Coincedentally, this would have been a week before the Giant had been created and it had taken Taylor forever to get it constructed.

II.

Hogarth laid back against the padded seats as him, Ven and a few other guys curled their arms up as they bench pressed. While some preferred a more unnatural though medically bettered form of muscle building, there were some who still wanted the old fashion way of getting results - Hogarth was among them. He grunted with some of the exertion of the weight before lifting the long, steel rod back up onto it's tall holder.

The seventeen-year-old laid back relaxedly with his arms folded behind his head, the night was clear overhead the skylight of the three remaining buildings of D.C. Alpha- There was an invisible shield around the huge city that prevented any tracking device from coming through, but that was fine with Hogarth. It was better they not find him.

"Some sky tonight." He mentioned to Ven, sipping some of the beer they would give out to those who put in a full days work. The boy grinned over at him. "Could I try a swig?" he had picked up on some of Hogarth's lingo. The teenager lifted a brow at him. "You know as head of this sector I'd be a poor role model if I did."

They glared at each other before bursting out in laughter.

"So I can have a drink then?" The fourteen-year-old inquired.

"Not a chance." Hogarth answered as he closed his eyes with a contented smile, the feeling of a billion stars dotting the skyline and canopying him was a comforting one but was just as quickly shattered with a presence over him. "Trant, ol' buddy, ol' pal. Been waitin' for ya." He said exaggeratingly, smirking up slightly at the ex-mechanic.

Trant had gone through a transformation from a grungy, fixer-upper man to a medical assistant-type of guy, people in the future held several occupations at an early age to the end of their lives. It was something Hogarth couldn't care less about. "Your tests just came back," Trant told him. "except for two." Hogarth looked upside into his eyes.

"Well, don't keep us in suspense." He said cockily.

"Your blood test." The twenty-six-year-old said formally between clenched teeth.

Hogarth slipped out his pocket knife, flipped it open and pricked his thumb. "Ping." he said casually and smeared it on Trant's white lab coat before folding his arms behind his head again. Trant scanned it once before holding it up to his eyes. "Alcohol content of 0.4," he said. "But you are barely even intoxicated. I will need a urine sample now."

"Hey, man," Hogarth lifted his shirt to reveal a row of well-toned abs, giving his belly a few pats. "What I _pack _away is my business." he was pleased to observe he was now effectively getting on Trant's nerves, who glanced over at the beverage. "You do know that those whole-nutrient vitamins aren't meant to be dissolved in that drink, Hogarth."

"Really, Trant?" He scooped it up and slurped it down. "Do tell."

"I do not understand you," Trant said, struggling with his patience. "You keep up after your body-building, but you falter in your grooming habiets." Hogarth casually gave a glance down at the same dirt-coated jacket, hole-infested T-shirt and wrinkled jeans he had worn except for at night, his somewhat messy hair had grown unruly and long and he even had a straggly beard to match.

"So?"

"You sometimes emit an unpleasant odor."

"Really?" Hogarth grinned, flinging up his arm as he buried his face in his pit. "I like to call it, the stench of success. Why not take a whiff? Some of it might come off on ya." It had been this way for many months and Hogarth had milked the opprotunties.

"Why would you say that?" Trant asked with spite foaming in his words.

"Well, that's just 'The' way it works. If you work hard at something, in this case my 'Iron' pumping, you come out with 'Giant' results." Hogarth explained to him, and noticed that Trant was now looming closer. "Yeah," his joking nature waned. "If you get any closer to me with that pucker face, I'll give you such a fat lip the other short-straw fruit cakes will be calling you Sir Super Smooch." He took another sip of beer.

Trant just glared at him.

"What I put down my gullet is my business." Hogarth reminded him, his cocky attitude resurfacing. "Ooo, speakin' of which, it's time for that urine sample." he plucked up the cup and took it outside. The older man's trailing eyes was a very unsavory experience.

x.x.x

Taylor walked about the open room with seemingly no one around. _They must all be at the send-off. _She thought to herself and glanced over casually at a large screen, it had an array of different coloring options. Looking side-to-side, Taylor strolled over and took a seat at the screen. There were different hues from the entire spectrum to select from.

"If only I had a droid." She said to herself thoughtfully.

"As purely a companion, I hope." A woman's voice spoke.

"Well, yeah. Of course, but then-" Taylor glanced over her shoulder to see a tall golden creature gazing observantly down at her."Oh, dear God!" she leapt from her seat and backed away, yanking up a nozzled airbrush hose as she went. "Get back, you! Back!"

"I mean you no harm." 35,000 assured her. Aside from demeanor, it looked the same.

Taylor wasn't taking chances.

"Listen, Goldie. I don't care if you come in peace," She poised a thumb over the switch of the nozzle. "Come any closer and you leave in pieces." 35,000 shook it's head at her threat, as if it weren't important, and hammered a fist into the keyboard. Static flew up in the air and Taylor dropped the useless nozzle, she folded her arms and stood erect.

"My purpose is to find Kina and save her, but I do not know where she is."

"And why would I help you? For all I know you're a double agent."

"Here," 35,000 swivelled different gild-cased body parts around as she dispensed her weapons. Taylor rolled her eyes. "That's not the point. You suddenly show up, toss all your weapons aside and expect me to trust you. Those stupid things don't amount to anything, Gold. You may as well blast me now." she poised in order to try and run now.

The robot came up to Taylor and looked her directly in the eyes; Taylor could feel a tiny whimper of fear well up in her throat, but her experiences gave her the calm attitude to stand her ground against the droid. She did not so much as flinch as the droid rose it's hand over Taylor's head, rose it over her own head and levelled out both of the hands.

"How long have you been here?" This was a shocker, the Giant had done this once.

"It's something 7000 showed me at one time through a misunderstanding." Gold shook her head, a bit amused. "I was telling your friend Hogarth-" she immediately turned her attention as Taylor seized her head and jerked it forward. "I will ask once, release me."

The young woman glanced down and saw that 35,000's thumb was missing.

"Where's Hogarth?" Taylor asked with well-managed emotion.

"Kina has taken him, as you probably already know." She noticed the droid's reflective orange eyes fill with sadness, but devotion. "She means the world to me, Taylor. I will do whatever it takes to save her, but I need you. Can you find it in you to forgive me?"

"Save her?" Taylor inquired, misunderstanding.

"From herself."

The petite girl shook her head. "No, my friend and I have a pact. I would stay here and he would bring Hogarth back." Taylor walked away from the droid. "I will not help you."

"You will report me?" Gold said resignedly.

"No." Taylor spoke flippantly. "I just won't help you."

She walked away, and when she was sure 35,000 was out of sight, Taylor sprinted off to the send-off ceremony. She had her mind made up that she wanted to go with them.

x.x.x

Hogarth stood out on the veranda gazing out at the brim of dawn, the bandana-tied orb emitted an easter-soft yellow that matched the calm colors of the pink and red sun. He rubbed the cross on a chain that encircled the top. "God," the young man spoke. "I have no clue if this is the right path, but I have to take it. I pray that this path is right, Lord."

He held the orb to his chest, memories of his friends and family had buried themselves in Hogarth's mind. The young man could honestly not see how he had been able to make it - but he had. He had those two boys to look after and he had all of his family back in the past. School was a distant memory and Rockwell like a fairytale story.

"Julie," Hogarth spoke softly to the cool air, his breath misting a bit. He pulled his jacket up close to him as the glass behind him skirted open, and he let down his pants zipper.

"What are you doing?" Trant asked in open irrtation.

"What's it look like I'm doing?" Hogarth smirked sideways at him, aiming high to a stoney, steep downward incline. "_I'm... _waterin' the garden!" he zipped up his pants as the older man approached from behind. "And getting that sample, of course."

"You have been telling those children about God again, have you not?"

"Yes, I have in fact." Hogath turned to him, somewhat willing. "I could tell you too."

"I'll pass."

"Well, then," Hogarth handed him the beer cup. "I warmed it up for ya, buddy." he gave Trant's shoulder a pat. There was a moment of tension as Tress and another boy suddenly appeared at the door. "Hogarth," the little boy said. "They want all us to go."

"Go back inside." Trant ordered the child roughly.

"You aren't the boss of me!" Tress countered defiantly.

Hogarth sensed Trant reach for something in his pocket and immediately swerved upon the heel of his foot. "Tress," he said in an even voice. "Go back inside and don't watch."

Once Hogarth sensed the boy return inside, he reached into his own back pocket and switched his old folding knife out at Trant. "Don't give me a reason to use this, "he told the twenty-five-year-old soberly. "I better not catch you messing with my boys again."

Trant backed away, geniunely afraid.

"You do not have the balls!"

"You're right, I don't." Hogarth admitted, well-tempered but stern. "But I'll literally make sure you don't if you touch them." he caught the lean man by the shoulder sleeve as he attempted to lunge at him, and held the knife up before his eyes." Are we clear?"

Trant nodded begrudingly.

"Good." Hogarth released him, flipped the knife back into his pocket and took a breath." You gave your people the middle finger, attempted to have me eliminated and if I find proof that you caused my friends's death, that will make your time as my personal bitch all the more justified." he gave the man a falsely friendly smack on the cheek and went in.

"I did not inflict harm to them, my droid did."

Hogarth just kept walking away.

"I thought you were a good guy."

Hogarth looked back to see a bulled-up Tress.

"You weren't suppose to look." He said without emotion.

"My brother and I use to look up to you," Ven said in Tress's defense, he placed a hand on Tress's shoulder and steered him away. Hogarth watched them leave, slipped down the glowing orb into his pocket and walked away. That was exactly what Julie had said.

"_Be a good guy._"

"I wonder which one I am." Hogarth said cryptically as he exited the building.

Morning was on the horizon.

III.

"You 'aint startin' without me, are you?"

Julianne turned with an excited gasp to see Gorden Rhinestien approaching them.

"Apples!" She rolled her wheelchair up to the nineteen-year-old man she had not seen in seven months. "Peaches," He grinned broadly and engulfed her little body next to his in a big, careful hug.. "Lordy Gordy," His mother said in surprise. "Aren't you suppose..."

"Suppose to be in school, I know." Gorden said calmly. "I know, but since 'mos of the town turned up I thought I would board the bus and travel on up here." he tried to impress upon her his need to be here and she shook her head with a small, quiet smile.

"I reckon it's all right."

Julie took his hand and all three watched outside the courthouse with others who filled the streets, today was going to be a memorable one. It was in the air.

To be continued...


	17. A time before turbulence: Part 2

**A/N:** So, are you guys ready for the chapter BEFORE the chapter? I promise to bring you action, angst, drama, comedy and adventure in these last few chapters. This is just preparatory stuff for my biggest chapter yet. And, no, I can't tell you who lives and who doesn't. But I promise not to disappoint. ;) And, yes, our heroes will see one another next chapter. Also, Hogarth learns something pretty disturbing beforehand. Read on to find out!

I.

Taylor rushed down the long corridors connecting the large medical facilities to one another, she felt the material of her suit rub uncomfortably in a place she would rather it not rub as she finally approached the main enclosed walkway that she would need to take.

The sight of someone down on their hands and knees working on a 6'0 green droid made her slow - it was Trina. She was adjusting something in it's knee. "Hey!" Taylor called out. Trina turned to see over her shoulder and waved with some embarrassment to the girl.

"We had a little fracture coming over."

"Is everyone gone?" Taylor inquired in breathless haste. Why did things never go her way?

"Well, yes," Trina said, bringing her brows together scrupulously. "They're all assembled at the end of this hall, Taylor. You know that. Is there something the-" Her eyes widened.

"Oh," Taylor brought her curled knuckles to her forehead. "Don't even tell me…"

Before anymore could be said, the green droid flashed it's blue eyes on Gold and leapt to position itself between her and the girls. Taylor tried her best to calm it down, but Trina took her arm and pulled her away. They were almost to the open doors when the golden robot flew over their heads and held her hands up, a clear signal that she meant no harm.

"You are in a bad position to be planning an inside take over," Trina threatened, holding a startled Taylor back; the woman ususally had a gentle nature. "So whatever my cousin Kina is expecting to accomplish, it will not work. I will not allow it to, 35, 000. Surrender now."

"Hello, Trina." Gold crossed her arms casually. "I see you have grown your hair longer."

This put her slightly off-guard. "Excuse me?" she said in flat, outright confusion.

"And 33, 456," She turned to her droid cousin. "I see you have a new, even texture."

The droid continued to stare at her blankly before rushing forward and intercepting them again with a fist raised; after the destruction of Washington D.C., most droids carrying any sort of weaponry had had them removed. One, of course, could not function without his.

"You would punch an unwilling opponent?" Gold turned her face away to show refusal.

"So now you're playing by the Giant's rules?" Taylor said sardonically, clenching her hands.

"I play by no ones rules, I've gone rogue."

33, 456 brought her fist back down.

"Of course." The golden robot said at this, very confident that the droid would not attack.

She was suddenly socked right in the cheek by it's extendable fist, obstructing her neck region.

_Rock'em, sock'em fembots. _Taylor thought in irritation before getting between the droids, even at Trina's shouts against it, and held her hands up at the tall droids."That's enough."

"You will vouch for me?" Gold said hopefully.

Taylor looked the robot squarely in the eye and turned to an ambiguous Trina. "She wants to try and get your cousin back." The teenager explained to her, even as she knew better.

"How do you plan to proceed with this?" Trina openly stated her doubts.

"How else?" Taylor said quickly, motioning them over to a window panel. "Hail the fleets."

"Unthinkable, Taylor. There are thousands in there, you cannot stop them. " Trina refused automatically.

"We must try," The rogue droid started over to her, 33, 456 moved a bit closer.

"You're not going anywhere, though." Taylor turned to Gold pointedly. "I am."

"Did I hear you right?" Trina said in astonishment. "You are _willing_ to help it?"

"I know what it means to have someone you care who needs rescuing."

"If I risk this for you, Taylor." She caught the girl's arm seriously. "We will do it my way and not get found out."

x.x.x

People of many different nationalities circumvented an enormous dome, everyone turned to watch as Archer, his droid and the Giant entered before quieting. Droids of all different colors, sizes and designs stood around, the Giant didn't know if any of them thought or acted for themselves and as much as he sympathized with his 'own kind', most of his attention was on the people. It still amazed him that all of them were willing to do this.

There were a group of people assembled in assorted garments at the front, Archer glanced up at the Giant before approaching them with his droid. "This, Councilors, is an original." He had told the Giant that there were still many out there who didn't hold him in willing regard.

The middle-aged group examined him over, he had been told that these were the World Affairs Council. Since this was a serious matter they had all taken an absence from where they controlled industries across the Earth, and had come to see the droid who could think and act for himself. A few seemed intrigued, but the Giant wasn't there to be a spectacle.

"You've been waiting for me?" He said seriously.

They looked to one another, not knowing quite what to say.

"Perhaps," Archer quickened to say. "You would like to say something to the fleets?"

The Giant sent him a surprised look, what could he say? He turned to look down at the no-nonsense group. "We are funding our most elite droids." A thin, black man said. "And we are to believe you, an outdated droid from 2100, can prove to be an effective leader?"

"Mr. Martkus," Archer said a bit firmly. "This droid remained behind to try and save our city after the evacuation, he has also demonstrated a capacity for what I would consider free-."

The man raised a hand. "Silence. I do not want to hear such talk, or to hear this droid referenced as anything more then what it is. A machine." There were some disagreeing murmurs from people in the background. "That is, of course," he continued, eyeing the secerned robot pretentiously. "provided 'it' can answer my first inquiry on the matter."

"Yes," A small, husky woman in orange said, turning to Archer. "You have invested a lot in this droid and although there has been impressive reports of it, we would like to see for ourselves."

The Giant brought his shutters together at being referred to as a thing, gave a small sigh and turned to the awaiting men and women who stood before him, much like the people had in Rockwell. They stood looking up, figuratively and/or literally, to the giant robot. And when he looked at them all this way, the compelling drive came to him.

x.x.x

"This is ridiculous," Trina said to herself. "We are going to get exiled for this, I'm sure. And if my father finds out…" Taylor took the older woman by the arm to steady her as she and the droids, who were carrying them on the outside of the dome, moved along the edge.

"We aren't going to get caught." She said as they made it to a giant 'S'- shaped emblem the Giant had crafted in his spare time, and placed out when he had been out testing how his rocket jets still worked. "And in anyway, we're just going far enough so you and your droid can transmutate," Taylor looked over at Gold. "we have a single teleporter here."

"And Trina, her droid and Kina will teleport back." She finished. "You will return home. "

"This is going to get us killed." Trina complained, stepping inside carefully. "What is it?"

"The 'S' sign? It's a long story. But the real point of it is it's magnetic energy can help to hold weapons in." Taylor said confidently as she drew up her legs. "Archer hasn't been wrong yet."

"Honestly," The woman shook her head as her droid bounded the girl with a safe, quick-drying goop to the bottom curve of the 'S'. "The things I do for my friends," Trina rested herself on the opposite side as her droid got in the middle. "You are so fortunate to know me, Taylor. As I am only doing this for my uncle, if my mother and father found out about…"

"We won't get caught." Taylor repeated under her breath, sending her long, honey-blonde hair back in one toss so 33, 456 could get her other hand. She didn't need pessimism right now.

"I still think the Giant should remain here," Trina looked out into the light blue sky. "And not return to '64. I can understand your attachment, Taylor. But we do not make it a practice to become too personal with our droids for good reason." She said this before letting it set in.

"Because you might be exiled?" Taylor asked uneasily, the thought wasn't a pleasant one.

Trina looked her straight in the eyes. "Because forming a bond with technology can lead some to forget the well-being of his and her fellow man." There it was, the honest reason that many people did not agree to consider sentient droids equally. It was what Inx meant. _Have I gotten so caught up in all of this that I've forgotten too... _

Before Taylor could give thought to this revelation, someone began to talk.

x.x.x

"I don't know most of you, but I know all of you have heard about me," The Giant spoke to the inside crowds sincerely in his baritone voice. "When you look at me, you see me for my size," he put his hand over his head. "or what I'm made from," he touched an iron shoulder, "or what I'm made out of." He touched his chest, indicating the regenerated arsenal inside. "But I want to tell you that that isn't what matters to me, I believe it's who you choose to be in life and how you live life that should. My friend Hogarth taught me that a long time ago.

I can't promise you any kind of protection, because I refuse to use my weapons. From what I can understand, you're only trying to stop the Omega side from going back to the past where they don't need to be. So I want all of you to please understand that why I am going with you is to save my friend and then return home as soon as possible. All right."

Everyone looked around at each other, including some of the droids. Nothing was spoken immediately, but many nodded in silent agreement. The Giant looked down to see what Archer had to add to this and saw that for once he did not know what to say. Peering over to the Council, he saw that none of them seemed moved by his words - that was just fine.

Their opinions of him weren't important to him. However, leaving this place without any trouble was part of his objective. They finally looked up at the Giant, with no expression, and nodded their seemingly indifferent approval. He nodded once and proceeded forward.

x.x.x

"Taylor?" Trina asked the young woman in her concerned way. "Will you be all right?"

She had tears in her hazel eyes that she knew few in this time would understand." My God, he reminds me of Martin Luther King back in 1963," she felt a knot of emotion tightening in her throat, Taylor brushed the tears with her forearm. "I can't go through with this, Trina. I made a promise to stay until they got back. I just can't split yet." She looked at the droid.

It looked at her.

"Let me out, 33, 456."

"This was not part of the plan." Gold whispered abruptly, urgently. "You cannot back out!"

"I'm changing the plan," She said determinedly and looked over to a proud Trina, just as 33, 456 was about to unbound Taylor the heavy 'S' began to shift. The girl felt suspended up and placed on a large chest. "Great," she muttered under her breath as Trina's emerald droid undid her bonded feet. "Now the man of iron thinks he's The Man of Steel and Iron."

"I do not know what that means, but this metal does consist of steel and nickel." Trina mentioned, resigned to being found out.

"Well, in my time there's this comic book hero named-." A tingling sensation tickled on her left wrist. "Wait," she nearly gaped at the rusted metal. "Did you say nickel? I'm-I'm allergic to nickell! Oh-oh-oh-oh-ohhhhh!" Taylor began scratching at the beginning of the red rash.

"Hmm?"

She could have thumped herself. The giant 'S' suddenly moved upward before the droid undid her last bound and Taylor found herself dangling from the outside. They made eye- contact as Trina sighed heavily, transmuted her droid into a hover craft and moved back.

"Why you two sort this out, I am going to find a certain droid." She said this ominously.

"Taylor?"

All she could do was wave sheepishly.

The Giant brought his hand under her and gently tugged the falsely perky girl's wrist free. "Hey, Giant." she said with a phony smile as he fingered the glue off. "What very lovely flying conditions there are today, huh?" Taylor dropped the act at his unimpressed look. "I know what it looks like." She sighed and gave it a try. "But I've changed my mind."

"Taylor-."

"I want to come too, that way we can all go back at once."

"That wasn't the plan and you know it could get very dangerous."

"Young lady!" One of the Council members called up, outraged. "You are unauthorized!"

Taylor folded her arms and looked away. "I can't believe this." She griped embarrassedly.

"Taylor," The Giant said patiently, and she met his eyes. "I made you a promise, now I hope you'll keep yours." She nodded to herself and then said to him, truthfully. "I will."

He set her on the opening frame of the dome entrance and started out. "Bye, now. And thank you for helping me make it through." The Giant walked forward with others behind.

"Bye," Taylor waved at him with a wistful smile before raking a hand through her honey - blonde hair. "And good luck, Giant...fly safely." With a titanic leap into the air, the fifty-foot- tall, Retro-stylized robot jetted forward in a burst of flames. What followed was a series of fluctuating light disks of many colors that emitted out and around the inside of the dome. A wave of people aboard transformed droids dispersed out into the clear skies above, all sent speedily forth by hydrogen-powered propulsion tanks. Taylor watched the displays atop the paneled metal entrance, and sighed deeply. _Well, guess I'm a woman of my word._

She readied herself for someone to come up and retrieve her when a silver-bodied craft blazed around in front of her. The young woman raised a brow as a door hatch lifted up, and Inx stuck his head out. "You never said you had a droid." Taylor stated, a little taken aback.

"I want to make up for earlier today," He held out his hand to her. "We will stay close behind the others and get you home. Not to worry, I have specifically taken today off."

"I won't leave with you." Taylor looked down uneasily at the glaring Councilors.

"And you would rather stay with them?" Inx's voice took on a dark note. "To be exiled?"

She looked at him in dismay. "They wouldn't. Trina-."

"It's now or never, Taylor. If you stay you will never go home, you have two offenses now."

II.

The long channels of tubes that ran across the wide water gleamed a fair gold from the new morning sun, wheel-less silver trains linked railcars in them. People of the Omega side of Washington D.C. had been teleported from the ocean's large riff, all at once by a single teleporter while touching each other through out the catacomb barracks, to the still-standing docking port in Alpha. From there they would be traveling all the way to Iceland.

Head-of-sectors had been informed that Droid 7000's biochemical signature had been spread to the country after his account with the nuclear missile three-hundred years ago, the wormhole with which he had entered through back in 1957 had had fragments of it spread in that general direction back upon the explosion. Now, they were headed for there.

Hogarth sat by himself in a separate booth as three-hundred thousand people were being shuttled off through the tubular tracks over the North Atlantic Sea, his mind was dead-set on entering that gateway and getting home. No one had told him what the plan was once they reached inside, aside from him acting as some sort of diplomat, but than Hogarth did not really care. The fact that these people couldn't live in their own O-zone depleted time was none of his concern. _Mom, _He thought to himself, he felt an ache inside. _Julie, Dean._

"Hogarth." Ven said from the doorway as they moved forth.

"I'm by myself for a reason." He said unwelcomingly, keeping his eyes to the window.

"Will you listen already," The teenager protested and came over to sit across from him, Hogarth glanced his way. Ven was short with sandy-blonde hair to his shoulders, olive- colored skin, dark brown eyes and a medium-build; just like Hogarth before he'd gotten his athletic build after all these months. "I know you have had a hard time since your friends –."

"I don't want to talk about them." He cut Ven off, a twinge of pain knotted his stomach.

"Hogarth, Tress wanted me to tell you this, " When he said that name he garnered his complete attention. Ven leaned forward with his arms on his knees, fingers laced and eyes locked with the older teen's steadily. "When we first got here, I thought that it was because our parents did not…did not want us anymore." He looked down as his hair moved forward.

"Ven?" Hogarth prompted him quietly.

When he looked back up there were tears gathered in his chocolate eyes. "If you hadn't come along, I would probably always think that." Ven said with a catch in his voice. "But, now I believe it is simply because they wanted a better life for us. Y-you _are_ a good guy, Garth."

Hogarth pressed his forehead to the window and motioned for Ven to leave. "Brother, I will tell you one thing and one thing only. There is _no… such… thing _as a man who is totally good."

"I believe there is." Ven said in a low, defiant voice. "You, Jesus, the Giant-."

"Get out!" Hogarth balked at him in frustration.

The fourteen-year-old didn't even flinch, he merely nodded once and left. What Hogarth saw next nearly made him eat his words - Tress had been standing right outside the door.

"He didn't mean that." Ven assured him.

Tress stood with a small pout on his lips, staring up at his older brother with his blonde brows drawn together. "Yes," The seven-year-old said in a stubborn voice. "He meant it, Ven."

"I hope you are happy." Ven said angrily to Hogarth as Tress returned to his booth.

"Any real happiness left me eight months ago, Ven." He said solemnly.

A startled gasp made Hogarth turn to see Kina, draped in purple, standing in the doorway.

"Mind if we chat a minute before reaching our destination?"

III.

"Are you warm, dear?" Miss Rhinestien inquired down at the little girl, Julianne pulled her parka closer to her and nodded up at the large woman forever optimistically. She took a deep breath and let her eyes sweep up the white steps of the Supreme Court House, the last resort for true justice; her true sense of justice had left the day her husband of twenty years had abandoned them. _We should a never left Texas, _Mrs. Rhinestien thought. _Shouldn't never-_

"Excuse me," A voice interrupted her thoughs, there was a hint of Northern accent in it.

Bethany, Julie and Gordon turned to see a woman dressed in an embroidered dark gray wool suit, with a matching skirt, black knee stockings in leather pumps behind them. Her hair was pinned up under a hat and she wore large Dior's-styled sunglasses. It put Bethany on guard.

"Is there something I can help you with?" She inquired the young woman, moving over a bit sideways so she was in between the woman and a wondering Julie. "Yes," the woman said politely, "I am just curious to know, are you part of the court case that's happening?"

"Perhaps." Miss Rhinestien said with deliberate ambiguity, folding her large arms in front of her. "And what business would you have? I hear it's a private, civil case." She became increasingly wary. People, as well as some bothersome bohemians, were glancing over at them.

"You would be right." The woman said, adjusted her hat and moved toward the right into the direction of the crowds. "Wait," Little Julianne said suddenly. "I know who that is!"

But before she could say who, the woman was gone.

"Peaches," Gordon kneeled to her level. "Who do you reckon it was?"

"Miss Evans, Taylor's mama." She grinned slightly.

Mother and son looked at each other, dumbfounded.

IIV.

"If I didn't want boys from my own sector in here, why would I want to see you?"

The gangly, pale-faced, purple-robed and straw-straight black haired eighteen-year-old came to sit before him in her elegant motions, Kina placed her chalk-white hands in her lap and gazed out at the passing ocean thoughtfully. "You do adore those boys, correct?"

Hogarth brought his folded arms up tighter to his chest. "What's your point?"

"There is a reason for every action," She said, with obvious implication dripping in her words. He turned to give her a hardened look. "Say what you need to before I throw you out." Kina wrinkled her nose a bit at that before adopting an aloof look, she tilted up her chin and parted her lumpy robes. Hogarth nearly shielded his eyes when he set sights on the young woman's enlarged stomach underneath a white shirt. "You're, you're pregnant…?"

"Why do you think it is I allowed you to spend so much time with those boys?"

The young man ran a hand through his tangled, shoulder-length hair. "I don't need to-."

"But you do." Kina cut him off informatively. "I have given you much when I could have had you eliminated; these last few months have been for me to see how fatherly you can be."

"So you got shagged by Trant," Hogarth lifted his legs up and laid across the seat, staring out the window forcedly. Having to look at a girl with a stick figure and a ballooned belly wasn't what he cared to see. "Go show someone who gives a shit, Kina." He said rudely.

"Trant is not the father." She said lightly.

Then, it struck him. A sickness squeezed at his insides. Hogarth felt his face drop as the notion sunk in. "You-." He stepped up on the seat and sprawled up back against the wall. "You raped…" The last word wouldn't come out, for the first time in a long time he was stunned - almost horrified. "It was a simple sperm transference." Kina explained calmly.

Hogarth clutched the orb in his pocket close to his side as he grabbed at the air with his other hand for the door. "You're sick, Kina." he breathed vehemently. "Absolutely sick!"

The young woman developed a mock pout and twisting her thin wrists together, her long and spindly fingers lacing together. "Now, Hogarth," she said sweetly. "Do not be like that. This is what your dearest Taylor would have wanted. She'd want you to move on in life."

Vomit swelled and surfaced in his throat, he tasted it on the back of his tongue.

"Besides," Kina glanced down at Hogarth's leather jacket pocket, the Giant's scanned orb copy was sticking up mid-way. He looked down at the soft, yellow illuminating figure in the metal sphere. "We will need to begin the emergence of droid and human DNA shortly. Your orb will completely develop in only two days, at which point I will have a surgery performed to allow the two undeveloped life-forms to link together. This will create a-."

Hogarth choked down the clog of nutrient pellets, his eyes were hot and his temper was spiking at her disregard for her own child. "Kina," He said in a controlled voice. Once he appeared this way, the woman relaxed; his eventual full acceptance was what she sought.

"I'm glad to see you will take responsibility for our child." She said with a peaceful smile.

"You will _NEVER_ take Taylor's place!" He shouted at the top of his lungs, causing Kina to cover herself back up with the robes. For the first time she looked truly scared. "And whatever you have growing inside of you," Hogarth prodded her covered stomach once, she winced in some pain. "is _your _responsibility. _You_ did this to yourself. So, therefore, that is _your_ child."

He turned to leave as he felt his anger soar to new heights.

"I would not step out that door if I were you." Kina said slyly. "We arrive in half an hour, it would be quite a shame if we did not all make it off in one piece-." She was pinned to the wall of the booth by Hogarth's quick, penetrating stare. "If you exit, I-I'll ensure …"

The young man swaggered dangerously up to her in a fighter's stance, his fingers were bent and his deep blue eyes were as cold and as cutting as ice. "What… are… you… planning… to… do?"

Kina never took her eyes away from Hogarth as she dug into the deep pockets of her dark purple shawl, and took out a black ball. She tried to appear sinister. "When I push this-."

Hogarth flung a leg up above her swollen stomach, pressed her against the window, took the ball in a single pluck and dropped it on the floor. He then proceeded to take the metal orb and smash it on the black thing while leaving nothing more then a small powder pile of ebony.

"My word." Kina could only gape.

"Where are the others?" Hogarth immediately asked her from where he was on his knees.

"There are no more." She said guilelessly.

He grabbed a handful of Kina's robe and seized her up to his face. "_Where_ are the rest?"

There was genuine fear in her green eyes. "I swear," she said breathlessly. "It was the-."

"It better have been." Hogarth steered her backwards and roughly seated her back down. He whirled around on his heel and left the booth. When the door slid back into place, he placed his back to the hallway wall, slumped down into a sitting position and buried his face in his hands.

"Cyborgs," He whispered the word in absolute horror as he folded his legs with his jacket, pressing the Giant's copied orb up to his chest as an only comfort. "Dear God, dear God."

That was what she was planning when they arrived back in 1964; a race of androids that she would have control over in a time when the world had not fallen to humanity's vices.

Hogarth was going home in minutes, and he would make sure nothing stood in his way.

Nothing.

No one.

To be continued…


	18. Gateway: Part 1

**A/N:** These next two chapters are the centerpieces of my work. Enjoy! Also, remember how Hogarth had got sent that one bolt in the first movie and in chapter five of this story he gave it back to the Giant. Well, you'll see. These next chapters will develop and re-examine their relationship. Lavenderpaw.

~.~

_"The general sent this, he said it was the only part recovered. He thought you should have it." Dean told Hogarth, unsure of how the boy would react as he rubbed the back of his neck uneasily._

_Hogarth's happy game face vanished as he received the scorched screw. "I miss him…" he said sadly as he looked down at his first friend and hero's sole-surviving part with a heavy heart._

_And he always would._

- The Iron Giant movie, spring 1958…

I.

Mid-morning, Washington D.C. December 10th 1964 in the halls of the Supreme Court…

Trisha Evans strode down the wide, white halls with barely an inch of skin showing aside from her face as she proceeded to one room in particular. There was a poking against her thigh as she came to the segregated rest area. Glancing back and forth, the thirty-six year-old stepped into the woman's bathroom, pushed her Grandma-sized glasses up and made her way over to the sink; A mirror reflected a person who looked properly self-important.

She sighed to herself, her oval face was smooth with expensive make-up but she did not dare look into the tired hazel eyes which she had been told to cover from the world for a long, agonizing eight months. The only reason she was doing this was for her daughter. A man she had heard about and later learned to hate was pulling the strings; Sergey Dimelo.

Opening a dark coffee-brown satchel, Trisha pulled out a small, black tool kit and walked over to where a light gray trash can was. She took it, turned it upside down below a large ventilation shaft and kicked off her shoes. Very awkwardly, Trisha tip-toed up on it and began unscrewing it with a small Phillips head. Once it became loose, she smiled slightly.

_One step closer to __Taylor__._ The young woman clutched her fingers on it and hoisted her 5'4 petite self up into the musty, rectangular channel. She secured the limp hanging shaft back into place and took out the softly bleeping screw. Trisha bit the tip of it and used the main part to lead her down to the court room on her hands and knees in her woolen dress.

"I hope James Rhinestien is having better luck then me." Gordon's father, the ex- sheriff of Rockwell and a once trusted member of society, was also a pawn in this whole time-travelling mess. She still could not believe eight months ago this had all been science fiction to her. But now the truth was going to come out. Trisha was lit the way by one of three recovered screws.

The third screw from that fateful bomb was still missing.

II.

December 10th 2201, the North Pacific Ocean en route to teleport at Tropic of Cancer.

The skies were graying as more voluntary fleets of droids were joining the huge flanks of Alpha D.C. and Honolulu participants. Much of the water that passed under the Giant as he led them was a mix of murky green and blue, but he hardly noticed it as he flew with a one-track mission: having Hogarth see him so that he could be rescued. The 'S' the Giant sported was not only important to help withhold his weaponry, but also to help Hogarth identify him.

If those clones of himself were already scanned, he needed to distinguish himself and the Giant knew that only the two of them really knew what that 'S' meant. Happiness at finally seeing him again would have come very easily had he not known what the people following him in their formations had planned. It saddened him inside, but he would not interfere any more then necessary. They chose this and the Giant believed you were who you chose to be --- even though he wanted to help them.

He glanced over his shoulder and saw a bronze saucer-transmuted droid, a young man at the middle with a helmet on and shaded goggles held up one of the teleporters that were allowed by the World Affairs Council. The Giant moved diagonally back so that the guy could touch his iron heel. He made sure his afterburners were tilted down, and prepared to be transported to The Artic Circle. From there, they would be traveling to a large ice burg.

The very ice burg the Giant had had his parts blown over three-hundred years earlier.

x.x.x

Iceland…

Vast sheets of untouched ice spread out on both sides along huge, five-hundred-foot tall train trestles that allowed silver-bullet locomotives to travel down. These were complexly engineered networks that had transported three-hundred-thousand people, and over one-hundred- thousand copied Giant orbs, safely to the spot where the time warp would open.

"Trant." Kina said in a prominent voice into her communicator, striding briskly along the front of what she still considered the 'ordinary' people. They were people whose ancestors had been exiled in Washington D.C. for still clinging to materialistic ways, these people who dressed in cold –resistant purple jumpsuits were also descendents of high-profiled criminals and people who had not conformed to D.C. Alpha. Now, Kina would be the one to change all of that.

'She' was going to go back to the past, 'she' would be the one to reverse the fall of the governments and 'she' would be the one to control all forms of legalization. The woman draped in heavy purple shawls allowed an idealistic smile to pass her chalky white face.

"Yes, Kina?" Trant answered over the watch, his shift from teasing arrogance to one of direct obedience was very gratifying to her so much more so then 35, 000's loyalty had ever been. "I see the Alpha fleets on the horizon. You need to send the first person over."

"Very well."

"I see them coming, they are-." His breath sucked in abruptly. "Kina! My word! It-It's-."

She cut off the communicator without a response and turned sideways to see a very stolid Hogarth a few feet from her, he had been assigned one-thousand members and would act as a negotiator in the take over. The young man stood looking straight forward, there was no expression on his face as the wind swept up his unruly medium brown hair and beard.

He was the only one who wasn't in her standard issued uniforms, she wrinkled her nose.

"You." Kina pointed out a small, blonde boy. The child looked up from beside a teenager with fear stricken on his round face. "We need someone to test the portal." She seized a basic black hovering bike from her most trusted members and pulled it before her. "Go."

He backed up behind the older boy. "Ven?" the child asked his uneasy-looking brother.

"I don't want him to-."

"I'll go." An intent voice said. They all watched as Hogarth moved emotionlessly over to the glider and straddled it. "I said for this boy to go." Kina informed him venomously. He looked over at her from the corner of heavy blue eyes, and she visibly cringed at his look.

"Ven," Hogarth turned to the calmed sandy-blonde boy. "You make sure that there's no trouble while I'm gone, kid." They all watched as he sped down the lone track by himself.

His torn and faded leather jacket rose and billowed out from behind him like a black cape.

"Garth's a badass," Ven said quietly. It wasn't a compliment, he touched Tress's shoulder to try reassuring him.

"I wish he was still a good guy." The child pressed the Superman comic to his chest that was under his jumpsuit. It crinkled and he felt sick when he heard the front page tear a bit.

x.x.x

Taylor had her arms folded to her chest as her and Inx traveled in silence behind all of the completely devoted Alpha fleets, she felt scared and guilty at the same time. The girl had promised she would remain behind, but if she remained behind there was a chance they'd never allow her to go home. She trusted Inx, the young man had her best interests at heart.

"What if you're caught?" Taylor asked him.

He drove the machine with not a word, his shoulders tense and stiff as per usual. With an easy smile, she leaned forward and gently began to work her fingers into them. It would do little good as people in this century never really relaxed, but she couldn't think of any other way to get him to respond. Without a hint of regret, he slowly peered over at Taylor.

"I will not be going back," Inx informed her determinedly. "I am returning with you so as to meet this Hogarth and convince you once and for all that we need to be together." This made Taylor fall back in her seat, she could find nothing at all to say as the direction that they were headed in was reversed ---- they had all just been teleported to the Artic Circle.

Neither of them noticed a gold-plated being clinging on to their bumper like a hang glider.

x.x.x

Trant held his breath as a large portion of the city he had betrayed to come back to the past surrounded the back half of the many, many purple-clad people standing in long lines to enter through the time warp. The Omegas all wore special shoes with stickers on the bottom that drove holes into the icy train trestles, and allowed them all to walk on it. Now they were trapped.

"Get ready." He told them, the man had not come all this way to be stopped. His former Alpha citizens were the traitors as far as he was concerned for they had either wasted all their time trying to find ways to preserve this half-wasted Earth or had spent it using his tunnels as racetracks for droids back in the early days. Trant also had loved that mindless entertainment. Now he knew better, this was truly the only way to save all of these people.

An orange - brown saucer moved down to his level, and the upper portion opened up now.

"I will only ask this once," a Hispanic young man said. "surrender yourselves, Tyrant."

"I do not find that amusing." He crossed his arms surely. "As you can see, these people behind me have droids as well. Droids," Trant smirked a bit. "That are unstoppable. The first half will develop on their own, and the rest will be linked with the DNA of humans."

A saddened look entered the other man's eyes. "I remember when we took apprenticeship classes together, Trant. If anyone knows you it is I." he attempted to impress this onto his childhood peer. "Don't do this. We do not have weapons in which to fight, amigo."

"You are not a friend of mine." Trant told him bitterly. "And how will you stop me?"

Many people began to gasp as their orbs flashed a bright radiance of yellow, they began to suspend up from the people's hands. Elderly, teenaged, young and middle-aged all watched as shadowy figures inside the orbs began to configure themselves like a puzzle.

"We will interpose ourselves." Pueblo informed Trant solemnly. "As the one you stole those orbs from did. As many people in the United States have done many centuries ago."

He sealed himself inside his droid and the hundreds of Alpha people pressed their droids forward in order to fully circumvent the Omega members and their transforming Giant copies. Trant felt a twinge of sickness as he realized something that was very shocking. These people weren't going to fight him; they were going to use themselves as a shield.

They were a willing, massive human shield within the confines of their transmuted droids.

A rush of anger filled his gut at their willingness to do this, and he raised the scanner he'd used on the Giant back in Washington D.C. Trant felt that 'strength' of being in control pass through him as he collected the biochemistry within the orbs that surrounded him, and nearly grinned with a twisted glee at the notion of having his own motorix again. He threw back his head and let out a crazed chortle as the people backed into one another at this display.

x.x.x

The Giant flew a steady speed through the air under his invisibility cover, he did his best not to watch as the Alpha D.C. and various other volunteers formed a gigantic funnel in a single attempt to close off the efflux of yellow radiance. Finding Hogarth was his priority, and he could not do a thing for them. Since he figured his friend was more likely then not being held captive at the front, the Giant was waiting until he got that far before revealing himself. He wanted to try and keep Kina and Trant in the dark for just as long as he could.

As he made his way over familiar territory, the Giant noticed the other half of the Omega citizens did not have their orbs activating. Before he had time to think about this, a thick fog rolled in. It happened so fast that he had to re-appear in order to see through it clearly, this was very strange because he had never seen the fog do this three-hundred years ago.

Loud, explosive clanks and churns of twisting metal reached his sensors. The Giant tried to ignore it as he moved forward through the deepening sea of mist, but that same knot of injustice he felt for not doing more for them formed. Yes, he had stood against that high-tech droid of himself. Yes, he had endured a lot of pain. But hearing this was unbearable.

It brought back awful memories of the time back in Washington D.C., a great ambiguity wracked him just as the start of the Omega groups finally ended and the Giant was able to see not far down the line a single black figure racing toward two large plateaus of ice. He wanted to go down and find Hogarth badly, but the Giant felt his immense sense of duty come over him. Bringing his enormous, rectangular arms back and tightening his ironed fists, the Giant made a quick decision and bolted down to stop the person from entering.

III.

"The reasons behind your claim, Mr. McCoppin, are absolute ludicrous," The Supreme Court Justice said as he looked up from his glasses. "This is a _serious _matter, I am inclined to believe you may have certain psychological issues, sir. I do realize that-."

"Your honor," Dean's attorney interjected. "If I may, we have the entire town here that is willing to testify, as well as evidence of the supposed alien landing and of it's existence."

Most of the room held their breath, Dean did his best not to pay mind. He was going to see this through whatever happened to him, so long as Sergey Dimelo and Kent Mansley paid for what they had done. But it was apparent the Chief Justice wanted none of these claims.

"Unless I actually catch a glimpse of this creature..." The man let his rhetorical sentence trail, before anyone could say anything more on the matter a man stood up from the back of the many pew rows and started jogging pass the aisles. "Sir, return to your seat at once!"

The bailiff started to move forward. This man was dressed in a dark gray suit with a large, matching suede hat and half-egg shades. Dean looked over and the two men saw the other even though they didn't see each other's eyes. "James," he said his old friend's name to himself.

"Dean." The ex- sheriff replied audibly and chucked a silver device forward as if he were throwing a baseball. There was the general clamoring as he was wrestled down upon the ground. Dean tried to grab for the device, and found himself meeting the eyes of the one who had murdered his wife. Sergey caught it in mid-air from his cuffed wrist before he raised it up over his head, and ignited a beeping. It was the size of an eight-track tape.

"Here's your proof, Judge."

Before anyone could reach him, Dimelo tossed the device upon the wine-colored carpet and a brilliant flash of white fanned out. Snow flurries spilled into the court room and a chill filled the air. Dean rose an arm up and saw what he now knew to be a very real fact.

Robert Evans and Daniel Barnes's theory was coming to pass, Hogarth and Taylor _were _in the future. The Giant _was _alive and Dimelo _was_ running the show. Was it too late now?

x.x.x

Hogarth saw the portal flash open, he didn't know where exactly it was opening up to but he was not going to miss his one chance of entering that gateway. A thick fog passing through clouded his determined blue eyes while tingling his stone-faced expression with a light dampness.

Luckily, Hogarth had had something 'literally' up his sleeve; his old fighter pilot goggles.

After his helmet had gotten scuffed and worn, he had kept the glasses in his leather jacket just in case. Now they were very essential as he neared the opening. Hogarth pressed his scooter forward just as the huge shadow of a large being inserted itself before him. _Must be an Alpha droid. _He thought with a pang of vexation at his obstacle. _"_There's no way."

Hogarth pulled out an electricity-generating gun from his pocket, and pointed it forward.

Charging forth into battle, he sent out a ripple of black surging cords. Two huge beams of yellow appeared as Hogarth held the handle steadily, he leapt off the black scooter and made sure his heels were dug into the slippery, trestle track as he felt himself jerked up. He held on tightly and gritted his teeth from the immense strength this droid possessed. It felt as though it had the strength to pull his arms right out of his sockets without effort. As he tried with all his might to hold on, Hogarth glared with great exertion over his arms.

This was the only thing standing in his way of seeing his family again!

x.x.x

The Giant thrust an arm up as thick, ebony cords came at him. A wave of stinging pain crippled through it as he tried to deflect them; they wrapped around his huge metal limb spontaneously. He gritted his iron teeth together, and heard the screech of metal train trestle ripping as he pulled his arm up. Through his pain, the flying sparks of all-too familiar voltage and his raw determination not to let an Omega person in, he looked out to try and catch a glimpse of the enemy who was trying to make his way through here.

This person would not enter when so many people were sacrificing themselves!

The thick fog began to subside.

As the trestle track was nearly pulled halfway up, the enemies made eye contact. Great surprise entered the Giant's yellow eyes as he saw a pair of eyes he had not seen in many months.

"Hogarth!" He exclaimed in an astonished brass voice.

The young man's eyes grew slightly confused, but they averted down a bit to where his chest was and then back up quickly in an equally taken aback way. "Giant!" he exclaimed breathlessly.

x.x.x

Hogarth released the trigger and felt his arm jerk some as he reeled the electrode wires back into his fully-charged weapon, the two long-time friends stood twenty feet from the other with absolutely aghast expressions. They were right in between the past and present.

"You're…" Hogarth said in a startled, overwhelmed and almost choking voice. "…_alive_?"

The Giant brought his shutters together in shock and disbelief. "You're… one of them?"

To be continued…


	19. Gateway: Part 2

**A/N: **Well, here it is! Enjoy.

I.

The atmosphere in both the past and present was one of stunned anticipation, Hogarth and the Giant took one another in for a few moments to evaluate the other one's condition.

Hogarth looked ragged and worn in his ratty old clothes, while the Giant had had his old iron armor refurbished thusly leaving no trace of the scorch marks to be detected. Hogarth spoke:

"Giant," he began to request in a calm, frank voice. "Please stand aside."

His reaction was to shake his head a bit and attempt to handle the situation just as levelly. "Hogarth, no. I can't." he took a step forward, Hogarth took a step back. "You need to-."

"I'm asking as a friend," The young man cut him off quickly, still staying in control. "I don't have time to explain, trust me when I say I know what I'm doing. Move, Giant."

Both of them looked into the other's eyes, and the slow, painful realization finally swept over the Giant. His friend _had _changed. These last eight months had hardened Hogarth to the point where he appeared as impassive as Trant's Motorix, but he still stood his ground.

Eyes from people in the past were on them. "No, Hogarth." He said in a low, sad voice. "I'm not moving." His yellow eyes followed Hogarth's hand and he felt at a total lost when the electrode gun's handle was slowly pulled from the belted holster. The young man rose clouded blue eyes at him, along with the long-nosed brown barrel he took out.

x.x.x

There should have been uproar inside the courtroom, but everyone from Rockwell was glued to their pews as officials secured Dimelo to the ground. Dean approached the portal with slow, cautious steps and peered through the chilled wind that was pouring through it.

He tried to catch a glimpse when he saw a pair of giant legs outlined in the blizzard, one of them was directly in from of him so the wind wasn't as strong. Dean inhaled deeply and was about to call out to him, when he saw a lone figure further between the Giant's legs some distance away with his arms brought up. The person appeared a bit like a hobo. Dean squinted hard against the blistery force of the gale and actually made out who it was.

"My God," he muttered in disbelief and sprinted forward when he realized it was Hogarth; against any sort of logic his step-son had some type of brown gun directed up at the Giant.

x.x.x

Electric energy revolved around in a deep, darkening glow as Hogarth gripped the handle, now obsessed with entering through the gateway at all costs. He felt the power course in his veins as half of his mind departed from logic and he felt himself emotionally detached.

"I can never put into words what you mean to me," Hogarth told him in a stolid voice. "if there was any other way, I'd take it. But if you won't move, I _will_ go through you Giant!"

A disheartened, forsaken blue cast entered his large eyes and he lowered his head in dejection at the decision. The weapon was surging with power that trembled within the seventeen-year-old's hands as he aimed the hole right for the Giant's long, thin grey crest.

"Hogarth!" A man's voice, eerily similar to Dean's, hollered out. It sounded strained, as if someone had pushed him to the ground. "Daniel, let go of my arms! My step-son, he-."

"Don't be a damned fool, McCoppin! Entering that portal could be the last thing you do!"

Hogarth's focus averted away from the powering-up electrode gun, and a memory came to him. Unwilling, unrecognizable red eyes jerked forward in response to a small, toy gun in his reverie. "_It was an accident_." Hogarth heard his ten-year-old self defend the Giant.

"_He's a piece of hardware, Hogarth_." Dean said firmly. "_A big gun that walks._"

"_I---I not gun." _

A rush of emotion twisted at Hogarth's gut and the realization of the tragedy that he was about to commit finally registered, the force of this and the gun ready to be fired brought him out of his senselessness and depression. Licking his lips, he lowered the gun and the electric sparks flying about fizzled out. The Giant slowly looked up to meet his eyes now.

"Hogarth?" He questioned him in a stunned voice, the beginning of red pupils dissolving.

This wasn't an accident in a game, and they did not possess the mentality of children.

But somehow, in this moment, that was what they were reduced to.

"You know I could never hurt you," His voice cracked as he stared the Giant straight into the eyes. Every word he spoke was heart-wrenching to say. "you know that…" Hogarth fell to his knees, his head bowing and his long, snarled hair falling over his shamed face.

"Hogarth..." The Giant brought a hand out tentatively; the young man didn't look back up.

"Luckily," A female voice interrupted, and he turned his eyes from the roll of cracked and partially ripped up trestle track to see none other than Kina. "I do not share the same sentiment." She shot out a pulsating surge of electric wires at the Giant from inside one of her loyal follower's opened hatch-top droids. Hogarth looked up swiftly and fired his own live wires at her; he dug his shoes into the ground as they latched on to one another.

"Giant, go! Do what you have to do to stop them from entering the portal."

"Hogarth!" A young woman's voice cried out. Hogarth glanced over from the colliding blue currents to see Taylor drop out of a silver transmuted droid; she stood opposite them.

"Taylor?!" Hogarth exclaimed. She was alive too!

"Taylor?" This time the Giant said her name in surprise. She had followed them after all!

"Giant." She waved uneasily and backed into the arms of a Korean-looking man.

"We will see how he saves you." He said and leapt back into the craft, pulling it out of reach for Taylor to get back in. "Inx!" she yelled at him. "Wh-what are… come back!"

Hogarth and the Giant made eye contact. "I need your help." The strain of the pull was getting to him. The Giant ripped the metal 'S' signature from his chest, Hogarth released the trigger and sprinted back as the large robot placed it in between the long girder tracks.

"Go, Hogarth!" He said urgently as the 'S' caught on the rails with it's immense current of magnetic power. The teenager nodded once and made his way upon the looping letter.

His breath misted out in pants as he caught a speechless Taylor by her small wrist, and took off down the trestle track while pulling her along. Hogarth heard her pants as well.

"What-." She asked breathlessly as they headed away from the scene. "-is going on?"

"Run now," Hogarth explained breathlessly, feeling himself again. "Questions later."

From the corner of his eyes, he saw something he dreaded. It was a revised Motorix.

They kept at a steady pace, his bristled soles sticking almost like suction cups to the ice that he led Taylor down. He felt the adrenaline pouring through him as he moved as fast as he could with the girl that he had grown to love and miss immensely in her absence in tow. The raw instinct to keep her safe eclipsed every other priority of his at the moment.

"Hogarth, we can't run like this forever!" She told him logically.

"I know," He said in frantic breaths. "We'll head back toward my sector. It'll take a-."

Before Hogarth knew what was going on, he felt himself dragged down. Taylor slipped on the rock-hard ice and fell backwards. The young man gasped loudly and tried to reach for her in time. Her cries echoed as she disappeared falling back first into the mist-strewn vacuums of the trestle underworld. "Taylor!" Hogarth shouted down hoarsely. "_Taylor__!_"

"Hogarth." A meek voice called up to him. "Down here."

"Taylor, you need to stay where you are. I'm coming down for you."

He got as close to the edge as he could, kneeled down and saw that she was clinging to a slanted grey girder. Taking a controlling breath to stay calm, Hogarth evaluated the very perilous predicament quickly and threw a leg over the rail. He carefully inserted himself inside an adjacent-sided girder, and slid down it like a slide. The seat was cold against his bare hands, and slippery upon his bottom as he reached the next slant of girder he came to.

Hogarth did this until he reached her. Taylor seemed a little dazed by all that was going on, but graciously accepted his hand when he reached for her. A strong surge of warmth enveloped Hogarth and he flashed her a wide smile, unconscious of his yellowing teeth.

She didn't seem to notice and returned a small smile. Hogarth lifted her up into the V of girders and the two stared at each other for a moment, not knowing what to say. But then one thing came to mind --- home. Hogarth peeled off his cleat-spiked soles and clapped them onto his hands, he winked at Taylor's befuddled look and motioned her over to him.

"Climb aboard, Miss Evans."

x.x.x

The girl carefully wrapped her arms around his shoulders, and found herself boosted up onto his back. That same feeling of protection she had always felt around Hogarth filtered through Taylor anew as they started up together. Chilly wind filled her tiny nose, but the sturdy feeling of Hogarth beneath her sent a wave of warmth and security flooding to the coldest reaches of aching she had felt for him; which had helped only by Taylor's friends.

"We'll get the Giant and go home?" She asked hopefully.

"Got to reach the top first," He answered calmly.

Taylor finally looked up and saw with amazement that Hogarth was gripping hard into the main girder of the trestle track with strong grasps, crawling up it with just his bristle sole-aided bare hands. She grew rapidly concerned for him. "Hogarth, how--- are we---."

"Motivate me, Taylor," He said through grunts, his legs dangled down and Taylor could feel new cords of muscle flexing his triceps as they were halfway to the top. "Come on."

"You can do it." She said with earnestness, and gave a little, breathy laugh. "This must have been what it was like for that cool-geek Spiderman and his koala-clingy girlfriend."

Hogarth chuckled deeply and turned to her with a wide, daring grin. "Hang on, MJ." He half-joked, the two of them were several yards from the top now. Taylor climbed up over him and started to pull Hogarth up when the screech of tearing metal reached their ears.

Both looked at one another in fear as the girder bent downward, the motion caused Taylor to slip again and wrap an arm around it now. "Hogarth," she nearly whimpered, scared and flustered all at once. "I--- I don't have the strength to hold us both up." Her arm was slipping at this point.

"You wouldn't let go, would you?" He asked her, open-mouthed.

"No." The young woman told him. "Never."

"That's what I want to hear. Now, give my hand a slap."

"Hogarth Hughes, this isn't the time for games!"

"Taylor, do it!" She clapped his hand and felt some sort of rubber-substance stick to her hand. "Good, now wrap your legs around my waist and push me up." The girl closed her hazel eyes, and encircled his blue jeans only to open them once more when she felt it was working. Hogarth and Taylor smiled at one another slightly as they both clung onto the girder, but were instantly thrown into danger at that next moment when it bent further.

"I don't want to end up like Romeo and Juliet." She said and worked her way over to him.

The girder snapped and they were plummeting. Taylor clutched his body to hers as a sob stifled in her throat, the moist air whipped around their pressed selves as they were sent further into foggy unknowns. "_Good_," Hogarth whispered to her. "We're not like them."

She watched as he yanked out something from his pocket, he was falling with his back first incase they hit an object --- and saw cords of black shoot back up into the lesser fog.

x.x.x

Hogarth felt his arm jerk with a jolt of tension as the electrode gun's inactivated cords were propelled up in a ripple of webbing, he gritted his teeth together as they wound around the top of the trestle track and ceased their rapid fall. "As I was saying, we're not Romeo and Juliet. We're smarter, way better looking and a lot more damn resourceful."

Taylor only continued to clutch at his waist. Hogarth reached down to pull her more up to his level when his thumb accidentally brushed the activation switch, and a swarm of blue electricity swirled up the cords. He jerked his eyes forward, eyes widened in grave terror.

"Oh, no…" Hogarth said tonelessly as the electricity traveled down the trestle track. He switched down the button to try and send the current back, but it was already gone now.

"Hogarth…?" Taylor questioned him.

"Ven!" He yelled at the top of his lungs. "Treeeeesssssss!"

x.x.x

"Don't raise your cannon at me." The Giant tried to reason with the gleaming, armored version of himself. It looked between him and a now rather crazed-looking Trant who sat behind a glass bubble where the chest would be, he had to try and get through to the droid.

"Blast him!" Trant argued vehemently.

It wasn't easy for the Giant to stay calm, looking at this creature reminded him awfully of the one back in D.C. There then was another sound. All 'three' turned to stare off into the distance as surging blue power moved in thin, whipping spirals away from them, headed in the direction of the Omega people. The Giant first thought was for his friends' safety.

"Hogarth! Taylor!" He shouted, panicked.

"My droids," Kina said flatly, and acted immediately as she brought out a silver device.

In an instant, the girl pressed the button and a low hum sounded. Dazed, confused voices came from the tall plateaus as people holding many, many yellow orbs appeared on them.

The Giant felt a rush of relief and turned to look disgustedly at Kina again. She wrinkled her white nose and nodded to the person controlling the droid. An almost silent whirring picked up on his sensors, and he managed to swing his head back just as a large electric drill shot forward. Kina gave a small gasp as the Giant took it between his hands before breaking it in half, and shoving it into his steam-shovel mouth.

_Chomp, chomp, chomp…_

She struggled for composure as he stood up straight, his yellow eyes blared brightly with a low, intense anger that added a very unnerving mood to the friction-fierce and chill shot atmosphere. The Giant reached and pulled the hatch-top craft forward from between his index and thumb up to his face, the very on-edge driver tried her best to close the top.

"Kina!" Trant hollered and seized a lever down automatically, locking his control over the Motorix. A cannon was raised to the back of the automaton's head. Before it could fill up, the Giant gripped the cannon, twisted the silver cylinder easily into a pretzel and then gave the glass cover a single tap. As it broke, he extracted a completely agape Trant with only his index and middle finger. The Motorix was sent rocketing upward by it's power.

No one spoke as the Giant wordlessly sat Trant crossways on Kina's lap, and brought the two up to his burning ember eyes. "Do…not… _ever_ endanger my friends again." He told them in a deep, controlled voice of thunderous intensity that was so exacting that it made the interior of the craft compress inward a bit. The insides cringed as metal panels wilted.

The man at the controls passed out at the quiet, terrible display of fury.

"Understand?" The Giant asked tersely.

Trant clutched the woman to him in absolute fear. "Kina HOLD ME!" he wailed.

"Trant," She said between comically clenched angular jaws. "My shawls are wet."

"_Understand!?_" The Giant demanded in a restrained, but deliberate roar of authority.

The twenty-six-year-old 'man' nodded out of sheer fright (and respect) and Kina nodded also, not wanting this to be her last moment of life. "Good." He said simply and turning his palm out flat for them to settle upon, the Giant brought his fingers together and gave a flick to send them hurtling out into the air. Now, he focused his hearing to center out two.

When he locked onto theirs, the Giant immediately headed down into the trestle columns.

They were going home.

x.x.x

"My boys," Hogarth laughed incredulously, his breath misting out in excited breaths.

"You're boys?!" Taylor asked in confusion. "You have sons?"

"What? No!" He turned to her and explained. "Two kids from my sector… they made it!"

"Oh! That's great." She commented, getting caught up in the moment. "But, Hogarth…"

"Yeah?"

"How're we going to make it? We're still dangling hundreds of feet in the air."

"Don't worry," Hogarth said calmly, bringing his legs up so Taylor could hug his broad shoulders as he reached a hand up to the twisting bands of cords. "We'll climb up, okay?"

"Look!" She said suddenly.

They both turned to see the Giant flying towards them, Hogarth felt a rush of anguish at seeing him. "Oh, no." He muttered to himself. Taylor looked up at him in surprise at his words. "Oh, yes." She corrected him firmly. Hogarth still clung on to the handle of the electrode gun as the Giant neared, but released it at the last moment when Taylor started to ready herself to jump into the Giant's hands as he raised them; All three were reunited.

To be continued….


	20. It was the best and worst of times

**/N:** Hey, peeps. Here's my longest story ever! :D This will be a very interesting chapter, guys. All of our heroes will make sacrifices for each other (even one we thought would never happen), and you **may** want to take a while to read this one. It is LONG.

I.

High-up over Iceland, December 10th 2201…

The mist-swathed surroundings cleared and the air grew fresher as the trio ascended up in a gradual diagonal way into the windy blue skies. Hogarth and Taylor sat close together for warmth as they were carried safely within the Giant's iron hands. He waited for the sight of grey trestle tracks to vanish before giving Taylor a concerned, appraising look.

"All right?" he asked gently. She nodded her head; they both knew she wasn't supposed to be there. The Giant then also peered down at Hogarth, but quickly re-cupped his hands before the teenager met his ivory eyes. Taylor looked between the closed hands and then at Hogarth as he slouched back to the other side, folded his arms and cast a sideways look.

"Did I miss something important?"

No response.

"Hogarth?"

He ignored her.

Taylor peered out and up at the Giant from the side of his cupped hands. "Giant?"

The iron man only continued to fly while staring straight ahead.

"For goodness sakes!" she went to lie on her back and thrust her feet up at his palm. The two looked at her when they were all exposed. "Like it or not, we're all friends here and we are all in this together. So either we all work together or else. Okay? Can we do that?"

"Not the right time, Taylor." Hogarth said flatly.

"Or the right _place_." The Giant added pointedly, unpleased with the fact that she had gone back on her word.

Just after he said this, a pair of silver-coated feet thrust into his backside and sent them all crashing down towards the ice-hardened, three-hundred-foot-tall tracks. The two young adults clasped wrists, and pulled themselves together as they fell not unlike sky-divers.

The Giant looked up in time and managed to re-cup them in his hands. He gave both one last look, laced his grey-capped fingers, and detached his hands in a single throw over his right shoulder. They appeared to be in a light grey clam that was hurtled away, speeding like a falling star into a crystalline-cased track. Ear-splitting screeches filled the air as the Motorix bulldozed the Giant downward, using his body like a battering rams with it's feet.

x.x.x

A wide-eyed Dean stood with Daniel holding his arms back; the two watched all of the events taking place while everyone else behind them watched with agape expressions. All had forgotten the court case as a window to the future stared their present right in the face.

"What the hell, Dan?" He said in a slight daze, still trying to grasp this defying of physics.

"I'm not surprised, Mr. McCoppin. I knew it may or may not be true, but I wasn't taking risks." His hands loosened on Dean. "Do not enter through this. It may alter time more."

"I could go back in time…" The possibility was astonishing to him. "I could stop-."

"It's happened, Dean." Daniel told him abruptly, placing a sturdy hand on his shoulder to remind him of this. "And there is no telling what could happen. We can only watch now."

He looked on, hating the feeling of helplessness. But then, he realized that they all were. They had been when that missile had come descending upon them in '57, and now again they were. The only thing Dean, the judge, the jury, the Rockwell citizens, the army units and the ones who had made Dean's life a nightmare could do was watch events unfolding.

x.x.x

Hogarth and Taylor braced their backs against the Giant's palms, pressing into each other with their feet as they rocketed downward. His thoughts at that moment were petrified in fear that they would crash into the trestle tracks and smash like roaches, but this was very quickly alleviated when a familiar force-field projection of blue engulfed their outside. It gave them dim light and sent revolving shadows of train trestle in bands over their heads.

"Hold on, Taylor." He told her calmly, readying himself.

"I am." She said weakly, turning her hazel eyes up as the bands passed over as headlights might through partially-closed window blades over a bed. The two looked at one another, not knowing what to expect, when they were both tossed into the side going down. Noisy, grating metal crunched beneath the bombarding pressure of the tough hands as they were grounded into the girders. Luckily, the force-field provided a safe cushioning against this.

There was a full, whirling spin, a large thump, and the fingers unfurled themselves to let their passengers out. Hogarth pulled Taylor closely behind him and shielded his face as a strong current of breath-sucking cold air blasted them. He heard her give a gasping cough and turned to her; she pulled out a light blue piece of paper and placed it over her mouth.

"It's from when I impersonated a nurse months ago to get in and see the Giant."

Hogarth waved the one she offered him away, and quickly pulled the nylon strap of his father's old fighter pilot goggles over his eyes. They then noticed that both the hands had become three-fingered tripeds that were making their way over in one general direction.

"What's happening?" Taylor asked uncertainly, wrapping her arms around his middle.

"His homing device," Hogarth answered with a stroke of ingenuity crisp in his voice, he grinned at the girl and motioned over his shoulder. "I never wanted to be a cow boy and tame horses. But to tame hands…?" The teen said musingly a bit as he hurried after them.

"Hogarth!"

"Hurry now, Miss Oakley. We need to break us in some iron hoss!" He called jokingly.

She shook her head in slight amusement at his country-western accent, and ran with him to leap upon the quickly crawling hands. They did not stop or alter their path as the teens encircled their arms around the index fingers. It took a couple of minutes, but as soon as Hogarth made out the figure of two giant, straining figures he motioned Taylor to get off.

"Stand back," He called over to her, definitely not wanting her to get trampled.

A little reluctantly, she slid down the back of her left hand. "Be careful, Hogarth!"

"I will. Just stay a safe distance." As the space was closing, Hogarth pushed his straggled, red-brown bangs back to watch with wide eyes as the outlines of two more fifty-foot-tall creatures appeared in the blanket of fog. It was --- he nearly gasped at the sight that was before him --- two differing versions of the Iron Giant. They and the Motorix wrestled the resisting Giant to the ground. Hogarth gritted his teeth, and pressed the right hand onward.

x.x.x

Taylor hugged her arms to herself, and felt completely lost as the hand's shadows became lesser in the thickening wall of mist. Going against another person's wishes, as per usual, she headed off into the fog. Three large, looming robotic-outlined shadows were trying to gain control of a somewhat taller, struggling one --- the Giant. She rushed alongside the Giant's hand and in between the one Hogarth was riding. He opened his mouth to protest.

"I'm with you." Taylor quickened to say decisively to him. "We have to save him!"

Hogarth nodded at her.

They both got close enough to where they were under the four robot's thunder of feet; the two didn't say a word as the hands stopped and saw helplessly as the silver-black coated Motorix hooked an arm around the Giant's neck. Hogarth moved Taylor's oval face into his shirt as the two other apparent Giant clones grabbed onto the original's big, long arms.

He looked up as the Giant's foot was inadvertently about to come down on them, and did what he had done when they had first arrived. Hogarth tapped his forehead, his chest and then held the swirl of configuring blue data up as the circle-and-line patterned sole came down. Just as it did, the Giant was kicked in the knees and both he and Hogarth were face to face with only a ten-foot distance between them. His reaction was to shutter his eyes in.

"Run!" he cried as his eye beams centered on them pleadingly. "Both of you, please, go."

"We have to transmute you, Giant." Hogarth urged quickly in a hoarse-strip voice. "It's the only way we're getting out of this… please," he also became desperate. "Trust me."

The Giant looked away from him unsettlingly, remembering their encounter at the portal.

Taylor could almost feel the knot of indignation welling up in his chest, and peered up as Hogarth shouted. "If not for me, then for Taylor!" He argued at the Giant, who looked at her in regard. She nodded her agreement with Hogarth and the Giant lowered his crest – ridged forehead down to make contact with Hogarth's hand as that was the only way he could. Taylor willed them to touch when the Giant was jerked away; they were seized too.

"Giant!" Hogarth called out as he and she was drug away by unseen hands.

"Hogarth!" The Giant called back, digging deep impressions into the snowy terrain with his feet. Taylor mouthed the words "I'm sorry" to him. She never should have followed.

x.x.x

He felt the citizens of Rockwell's eyes following him in shock as he was forcibly moved to stand mere feet from the portal, the Giant even caught a glimpse of who he thought to be Dean staring up at him in beguilement and possibly grief; He looked away in his own.

The Giant lifted his lit white eyes to see that two muscle-bound men in purple uniforms were moving an oddly obliging Hogarth about thirty feet away from him, his inability to help Hogarth only coupled his misery as he watched Taylor struggling fretfully against a couple of other men. He glared at Trant who now confidently approached her, and felt the urge to kick him away as he reached for her long hair. Hogarth instantly took notice also.

"Trant, you bilge water slime! Don't you dare lay a hand on Taylor!"

The twenty-six-year-old sent him a sidelong look before taking the pin-straight, honey hued hair between his fingers. He nodded to the two men and the Giant watched with great pain as tears trickled down her smooth cheeks, the two men forced her hands onto a still-standing girder and bounded them with her own hair. She could not speak from the nurse's medical mask on her mouth, but she did not look away as Trant looked her over.

"All right, dear?"

"You monster…" Taylor spoke through the thin, blue gauze.

"Well done." Kina told him as they walked toward one another to stop before Hogarth in the half square of humans, the Giant and the droids. "Firstly," she looked at a once again stone-faced Hogarth. "to deal with you. This would make you a two-timed traitor, hmm?"

"It takes one to know one, she-witch." He said bitterly.

The young woman tossed back her greasily-sheen raven hair and turned to a clone of the Giant. "Bring out my great-great grandfather." Everyone watched as the droid reached in through the portal, people gasped as the enormous appendage moved inside and extracted a man dressed in bright orange who wore hand-cuffs. "Meet," she said. "Sergey Dimelo."

x.x.x

Dean backed away from the portal, and didn't utter a word as Daniel handed something to him from behind his back before he deliberately put on a convincing act at trying to get at Dimelo. Dean moved the object in his hand and felt the ridges and the bulbous top. It felt similar to the bolt from the Giant that the general had sent to Hogarth eight years ago.

x.x.x

_Her great-great grand-dad? Looks like Kina comes from the shallow end of the gene pool as far as good looks are concerned. _The remembrance of her violation of his privacy resurfaced. _Maybe the kid'll look like her and no one will be able to tell._

Hogarth had try hard to keep his emotions from showing as a stranger in very unsavory tangerine-colored clothes was brought out to meet Trant and Kina in the center before him. The man was tall, lumbering with broad shoulders and wavy silver hair; just as a manservant might appear. He peered over at the tatter-torn, straggly-haired young man.

"Am I to assume you are the Opie who found my droid, Hogarth McCoppin-Hughes…"

This corny introduction made Hogarth narrow his cerulean eyes.

"You're damn right I am." He replied flatly, trying to ignore the many, many incredulous eyes on him from his friends and the townspeople. Much to his inner desire to be the one singled out (for his friends' sake); Hogarth was now the 'main attraction' at the moment.

"Hogarth Hughes!" Taylor had managed to rip the mouth cover off. "Don't you swear!"

"The girl's right, you know," Dimelo commented briefly. "You are above such words."

He blew up at his bangs. "Tell me who the hell you are and why I should give a shit."

There was a motion in his pocket and it silently surprised Hogarth --- it was his orb. The one he had held close to him when he thought his friends had met their demise, the one that had been covered by Taylor's psychedelic-patterned bandana and a shard of old iron from the Giant's burnt metal skin. Hogarth made sure he kept direct eye-contact with him so as not to give the man any indication. The orb, however, wriggled around in his pocket.

A great, unnerving knot formed in the pit of his stomach as he bent down to his level; the man had queerly focused brown eyes. Dimelo pointed at the Giant. "Look at that object."

Hogarth's response was to spit him in the eye; he couldn't stand that inhuman gaze.

The man didn't so much as let out an "ack", and merely wiped his lid with his prison shirt.

"Call him that again and that'll be my foot in your face." Hogarth said. He felt justified for his actions, but found himself not wanting to look at the town's or his friends' eyes as that would mean they would see the disgraceful person he had grown to be. It was awful.

Hogarth kept his own from them and followed Dimelo as he paced leisurely in front of him. "You throw insults and hurl profanities, Mr. Hughes. But that is just a cover-up to hide your true compassion towards everyone you love. You care too much, you know."

"I care just enough." He disputed back squarely.

Dimelo glanced over figuratively at a glowering Taylor.

"If I were to touch the girl-."

"You lay a hand on her and I'll break your neck!" Hogarth shouted violently, but then felt himself reel back at his outburst. His entire community now knew for themselves how he had turned out, now Taylor, Dean, the Giant, everyone knew. _I'm proving this guy right._

For whatever reason, the man did not further exploit his findings. He motioned for Trant to come up beside him and met Hogarth's eyes critically. Hogarth let his gaze linger over to the portal in heavy resignation, pass his friends and Dean, and over to a familiar orange –haired, square-jawed man, when they met eyes Hogarth put on a cocky – casual attitude.

"Mansley?" he chuckled slightly, smirking a bit. "Talk about a blast from my more then complicated past, should've known that SOB agent was involved." Hogarth then turned to see Dimelo, no-nonsense. "Lay your cards down. Why did you pick me for all this?"

"Ironically, young man, you were never a part of my plans. When you encountered my droid in '57 it was by sheer coincidence." His voice took on a sharp, serious edge. "Your interference has been nothing short of a nuisance. Tell me," he sounded vaguely intrigued. "what are your feelings toward my machine 7000? Or, Iron Giant, as you call this being."

Hogarth lifted narrowed blue eyes. "I'd do anything for him." He admitted unabashedly.

"Wrong answer." Dimelo said in displeasure and clapped his hands twice.

x.x.x

Everyone watched in horror as Trant slipped out a thin rod and thrust into Hogarth's gut, the young man let out a groan of pain. "Let us see how useful your muscle pack assists you now, Hogunk." He mocked, stepping back from Hogarth. "How're you faring now?"

"Let me go…" the teenager said weakly, head lowering from the settling pain.

"No," Dimelo said firmly and seized Hogarth's jaws to look up at him. "I find your bond with the droid I designed very irritating. You will renounce it, Mr. Hughes." He released his hold. "Now," he stepped away to think, "Does the Giant have emotion and intellect?"

"You mean thoughts and feelings?" Hogarth asked lamely.

"Yes."

They met eyes.

"More then you'll ever have." Hogarth answered in an exhausted voice before Trant again thrust his stomach with the tazer. "Ahhh!" he yelped at the cords of acute pain.

"Hogarth!" Dean hollered out from the portal. "Hogarth, stop! Don't say anything more!"

There were startled gasps for by now he was crippled over in agony.

"Take it back, Hogarth." Dimelo ordered coldly, very set on continuing these torturous methods on him to make him renounce the Giant's place among them. "And why you are at it, explain robo-equality." Hogarth didn't look up. "Is the Giant equal to you, Hughes?"

There was a tense moment, no one said a word.

"No." He said in defeat; not unlike when he had exposed the Giant to Mansley years ago.

"Good show." Dimelo stood back.

Hogarth finally looked up with somber eyes at the Giant's remorseful ones. "Maybe _I'm_ the one who's not equal to him." He said before looking back down as everyone took in his admittance. Trant stepped forward to Hogarth. "Sir. Might I do you the grand honor?"

"Yes," Dimelo said simply. "I'm through. Set your futuristic weapon how you like."

"…to its strongest setting?" Trant said gleefully. Hogarth saw that the man was now on the brink of insanity, his once focused and intelligent green eyes were now possessed with an intense thirst for control and his mind was nearly gone; Hogarth felt regret for contributing. "Can I…" he asked the very composed man like a hyper child. "May I?"

"Sure."

x.x.x

Taylor worked her way down the girder, her umber eyes were set on the dropped folding knife Hogarth had threatened Gorden Rhinestien with to protect her months before. She looked sideways and met the Giant's eyes; he gave her a questioning look as she forced herself down to the white ground. Taylor said nothing as she picked up the knife's handle in her teeth, and without hesitation sawed away at her long blonde hair up to both of her shoulders. Silky, brown-gold tendrils fell to the ground as the girl rushed towards Trant.

"Taylor!" The Giant shouted after her in panic.

"Taylor, stop!" Daniel Barnes called through the portal. "Come back here, young lady!"

Kina caught sight in time over her plum shawls and turned to face her. Taylor brought her brows together. "I hope seven years as a cheerleader stayed with me." She uttered before executing a round of professional front handsprings. From her flips, Taylor saw Kina was amazed at this even as she prepared to brandish something out of her two layers of robes.

The girl caught the other's hands just as she brought out a tazer by her feet, everyone was watching now as Taylor did an under tuck and repositioned herself before Kina. The two circled each other like lionesses before Kina scoffed at the girl's unthreatening presence.

"Look at you, you're so puny." Taylor glanced down at herself. She was short at 5'3 and pretty in a very fragile sense. "You are way in over your head, little girl. So step back-."

"I'm not a little girl, Kina. We're the same age." Her cheeks flushed bright red and she secretly felt overcome by embarrassment. The blushing highlighted her china doll face.

"She's right." Dimelo agreed suddenly and put a hand up for Trant to wait before striking Hogarth again. Taylor felt herself become the center of attention. "She came here on her own accord, so therefore she has proven herself a young woman." He came up to her with his arms behind his back. "Taylor Evans? Or, is that even your actual name young miss?"

"What are you talking about?" She asked evenly, gripping her hands together.

"Your uncle Robert told me all I needed to know." Dimelo approached her calmly. "You aren't who you say you are, we both know that. Confess your true reasons, Miss Evans."

"True reasons?" Hogarth inquired her in confusion, recovering a little from his pain.

"I'm just a hippie kid who moved to Rockwell." Taylor said with a straight-face, she felt herself wavering inside at the fact that her uncle had sold them out. "That's all, Hogarth."

Dimelo looked over to Trant who reached inside his pocket, and tossed a black pistol to him. There was frantic talk through the time warp and the Giant immediately thrashed around against the three clones that were holding him as Dimelo aimed the gun at her.

"Please." Hogarth begged the man quickly, genuinely terrified. "Don't. Take me instead."

"No… she must decide." He smirked at her. "I can see it in your eyes you're afraid to die."

"Taylor!" The Giant strained as they held the massively struggling robot back.

Taylor stood still as a stone with the hole on her forehead. "Tell everyone who you are."

The girl peered over at a stricken Hogarth. "He's right, Hogarth," she said sadly, trying to keep control of her voice. "You know I moved from New Jersey… but--- the reason that I came to Rockwell was because my uncle and Mr. Barnes wanted me to watch you. They-

-they told me about what happened with the Giant in '57 and there was evidence that a Russian communist may have designed you," Taylor looked up to the Giant now. "I was never supposed to come into contact with you and Hogarth… but…" she struggled to talk.

"You lied about everything, Taylor?" Hogarth said in astonishment.

"My real name is Erika Robinson, Hogarth. And yes, some things I said weren't true."

"You-."

"I did it for my mother!" Taylor shouted vindictively, startling Dimelo a little when she stared straight pass the pistol hole. "I changed schools, changed my identity and dated that flat-foot Rhinestien for money that the government gave us." she became hysterical in her self-righteous confession. "So my mother wouldn't have to sell her body to support me. I was never supposed to meet you personally, Hogarth. I was to keep an eye on you."

Taylor heard him inhale sharply.

"But then you approached me. At the local diner, remember?"

He exhaled shakily, recalling their first meeting.

She looked his way, smiling soulfully despite the tears that flowed. "That's part of why I came with you and the Giant to the future. I found that I couldn't stay away from you…"

"Baby." Someone spoke from the portal entrance. It sounded like her mother, Trisha.

"Mama?" She spoke hopefully.

"Don't move." The communist ordered as he was temporarily distracted. "I told you to wait in the ventilation shaft, Mrs. Evans. Oh well, just in time to say good-bye to Erika."

Taylor turned to look at Dimelo with steely umber eyes. "I am afraid, but at least I'm not afraid of you." _Don't be afraid to die, Taylor. But you have to remember to live…_ The Giant's words came to her. She lowered her head, gripped her hands and prepared for fate.

"Taylor, don't! Not for me!" The Giant shouted out in his bass voice, she vaguely sensed his eyes rotating red and shut her own as the sound of the trigger went back. Taylor knew he had had his head turned away from aiming his laser eyes at Dimelo to try and save her.

"STOP!" A woman's shrill voice screeched. It was Trisha's.

As Dimelo flashed her a mad look, Taylor dug inside her stretchy, tie-dye jumpsuit, got out a mouth cover and tossed it at him. He dropped the gun without firing a shot as the young woman dashed over to a still stunned Hogarth. Trant, himself, recovered and was about to proceed with a 'final' taser to him when Taylor latched herself around his Motorix 2 let go of its hold on the Giant's head and stepped over toward the three.

"Don't." Taylor tried reasoning with the silver-black creature as it reached down for her. "You have to listen to me," she said up into its dark green eyes. "Choose who you want to be!" The creature hesitated and everyone past and present held their breath --- except for Dimelo who was still trying to get the mask off. The Motorix considered her a second before clipping its fingers on her shoulder to remove her from Trant's taser-holding arm.

Hogarth hiked a foot into the man's stomach as Taylor tried prying the weapon away, just as she did Trant raised a hand to smack her off. The two very large men holding Hogarth granted a release on him just as the taser was thrust up into Trant's mouth in the struggle.

It was fully-charged and on it's highest setting.

He let out a haunting screech and everyone looked away. Only two people didn't get to. Hogarth managed to grab onto Taylor and yank her safely away, shielding her body with his own and catching only a glance of Trant's fatal electrocution. Kina stared down as her right-hand man was struck with surging volts of real electricity, seeing this made her snap.

x.x.x

Hogarth and Taylor were inches from each other's faces; his bushy beard grazed her chin briefly before he helped her without a word to her feet. The two turned to see that Dimelo was still trying to rip the protective mouth mask from his eyes, and Kina stared at the sot-streaked area where Trant had once stood. The Motorix looked around purposelessly now.

Even the droids holding the heavy-hearted-looking Giant seemed without a cause. And he, himself, had willingly gone limp in their arms. His shutters barely slit and eyes cast down.

The Giant had nearly used his laser eyes in order to stop Dimelo from harming Taylor by focusing on the gun, it was something he had gone to such great lengths to avoid doing and now he had nearly allowed himself to do it. The Giant had nearly made himself a gun.

Wrapping her close to his body with his torn leather jacket, Hogarth approached the open time warp with Taylor next to him. Neither met their loved-ones eyes on the other side of the portal, but as they approached the lightly glowing yellow orb popped right out of the left pocket of Hogarth's jacket. Startled, he tried to reach for it as it rolled around his feet.

"Yes!" Kina said excitedly, she had discarded her shawls, revealing her long, gangly pale and pregnant body in a bulging black leotard, and did not seem to care that she was now shivering as she scooted the orb up to her knees. "It's mine!" Her plans seemed a reality.

"Don't," A scuffed boot slammed on the orbs top, and she turned her eyes up to see that the vagabond-looking Hogarth was looking into her eyes sternly. "You ever lay a hand on my godchild again." He said this in reference to the Giant's copied orb. Kina watched as he scooped it up securely in one arm, Hogarth then looked up at the Giant who gave him a pained side glance. Pain also crippled inside of him as he noticed Taylor and her mother look at each other longingly. Hogarth's 'English Teacher' came up to place a hand on her.

"You'll need chemical composition from the Giant to re-enter." Daniel told them blankly.

They all watched as the Giant looked to the fully-developed copied versions of himself to try and reason with them, looking all the time rather depressed, but before he could speak Kina stood up and looked Hogarth straight in the eyes, a crooked smile lacing her visage.

"This court case ---." She directed finger into the large, open room through the portal. "is for your mother, Annie Hughes." Her eyes narrowed and she patted her swollen stomach. "I suppose you can name this child in memory of her." The implications were maddening.

"What'd you saying Kina?" He dropped his arm off Taylor and let the orb fall as well.

"My great-great grandfather took her life."

Hogarth didn't believe her for a moment, his mind still processing.

"Hogarth?" The Giant said quietly.

He looked at his step-father standing ten feet from him in a dark suit and gelled-back hair; Dean wore a solemn look. Hogarth then looked over at the passed-out judge, the wordless Mansley and then at his hometown. He then met eyes with an aging General Rogard, who nodded the truth of Kina's words. Hogarth moved silently away from Taylor, took a hold of an expressionless Kina's arm and moved over to the girder that Taylor had been tied to.

"Hogarth." She said worriedly. "What're you doing? Come back."

"Come here, Hogarth." Dean tried to reason calmly. "Hogarth, let's talk about this…"

Before anymore could be said, he swiped up the knife and stuck it in the back of his torn jeans. Kina tried getting away, but Hogarth wrestled her down. The two strained against one another a moment before Hogarth stuffed Kina's long black hair in her mouth, she let out a muffled wail of anger and went for Hogarth. Both kept wrestling a bit before they went toppling down the snowy ravine to the train – trestle strewn valleys that lie below.

x.x.x

Dean McCoppin, Trisha Evans and Daniel Barnes nodded to one another, pulled out the two scorched Iron Giant screws and rushed in through the time warp that only allowed his chemical composition to enter through. Trisha gathered her daughter in her arms as Daniel rushed over to secure Dimelo down and scowl at the purple-clad body guards. As they quickly found out, most people didn't mess with the fifty-six-year-old WWII veteran.

Dean, however, rushed over to confront the Giant who looked at him critically. "I have an idea, Dean." He said to the man in his bass voice, not bothering with an emotion – filled reunion after all these years. The Giant glanced over at the pistol lying near Dean's feet.

"Giant…" The thirty-eight-year-old began to argue, recalling their past and his accusing of the Giant back in the scrap yard. Dean saw that the Giant wasn't pleased about making this decision, but they both knew Hogarth needed help and needed it now. "I'm all ears."

"Aim the gun at me," The Giant said, looking slightly away as Dean picked it up. "Fire it at my eyes and get out of the way quickly." He waited until he saw the small black object raised, braced himself and nodded at Dean. _Bang!_ Dean shot right at the Giant's forehead.

The man managed to get out of the way just in time as the Giant's eyes rotated bright red, but instead of aiming at the spot Dean had been standing at the Giant gained just enough control of his laser eyes to blast his unresponsive clones from side-to-side. Since they'd been scanned and made from the Giant's metal, they were only blown back a few steps.

Before they could retaliate, the Giant bent his knees down and jettisoned up into the air. Everyone watched as he flew down into the ravine after the tumbling Hogarth and Kina. Trisha pulled her daughter back to look at her after eight grueling months of separation.

"Taylor," she ran a hand through the girl's cut gold-brown hair. "Baby, are you all right?"

"I will be… and, I'm sorry for not telling you the whole truth in New Jersey Mom. But uncle Rob-." Her lips were tapped; Trisha smiled warmly and hugged the young woman to her again. "I know all about it, Taylor. You kept it from me because you didn't think I'd believe you about this whole robot thing. Your reasons were good though, sweetie."

Taylor smiled back, wiping a tear away. "Thanks, Mom. But you thought our move and our name change to Rockwell was just to protect us in case my father ever found us. You didn't know it was part of a government plot." She said and sighed deeply. "I love you."

"I love you too." Trisha stroked her daughter's small cheek.

"And because I love you I hope you know that I can't go home yet."

The woman was now thrown off-guard. "What?" she recovered. "You're coming home."

"Your mother is right, Taylor." Inx suddenly appeared with his silver droid beside him.

"Inx," Taylor turned to him with a displeased look. "You left me alone on that track."

"I knew Hogarth and the Giant would do anything for you." The Korean man told her assuredly, steering her by the shoulders toward the portal. "Now, we must do what is safest for you. Hogarth is clearly unstable and you are in need of help. Let us proceed."

Taylor almost let him and her mother guide her back through, Dean and Daniel both taking a despondent Dimelo, when she ripped away from their hold. "I see what you're trying to do," Taylor said accusingly to Inx. "You gave your job up in Honolulu to try and make me feel guilty enough to let you come back." She steamed like a little kettle.

"I have love for you and want what is best for you." He reasoned, extending out his hand.

"You're mad because I'm not in love with you." Taylor corrected him and turned to her mother. "I can't go with you, Mom. My friends still need me here." The disapproving stares made her back up. She was just about to run toward the edge of the ravine to try and see down into it when a green craft swooped down, beamed Taylor aboard and left.

It also beamed up the softly glowing yellow orb that was still undeveloped.

x.x.x

The snow crunched under Hogarth's shoulder as he and Kina rolled down the hill, he felt her fingers dig into his back as they were stopped by a trestle track girder lying on its side. The baby that was Hogarth's son that Kina had forcedly gotten through medically taking his sperm kicked from her stomach and into his. This only increased his reckless hostility.

"Kina!" he seethed. "I'll make you pay for all you've done!"

They struggled around a bit before Hogarth finally reared a fist back and soccer-punched her in the jaw. A single tooth popped out and a trickle of blood ran down her chin as she collapsed down onto the ground. Hogarth rose to his full height and Kina kicked at his knees caps, he buckled over with a groan from the earlier pain that Trant had inflicted.

But quickly recovered and was back on top of her. Hogarth grabbed her hair and knotted it around her hands like Trant had done to Taylor, brought the woman up to his ripped T-shirt and flicked a knife up against her neck. "What'd you have to say now?" he asked.

"Hogarth." His name was boomed in an even, firm tone. He turned to look up with fury-stricken blue eyes at the fifty-foot-tall robot staring down at him in great meaning. "You once told me… it's wrong to kill. Knifes can kill also." The young man's glare deepened.

"It's different, Giant."

"How?" he asked. "With me… it's guns. With you… Are you a knife, Hogarth? Choose."

The Giant stood at his peak height in the shroud of fog with his white eyes centered upon the scene below, but he did not make a move to stop them when he easily could. Hogarth slowly turned and was shocked to see the raw rage that burned in his once unclouded blue eyes, reflected in the knife's silver-skin blade. Clear, grieving drops fell in place of cerise ones as Hogarth sat the knife to the side and undid Kina's wrists with not one single word.

"You want to." The pregnant woman protested.

"That doesn't mean I will." Hogarth told her. "I'm sorry about Trant." He said softly.

Kina let out an angered cry, swiped up the knife herself and ran it up his left arm. The Giant had her wrist between two of his fingers in a second. He wrenched her arm away and moved her back while still letting her walk. Hogarth dropped his head and fell to his knees. The Giant then used his left thumb and index finger to disarm the knife from Kina.

He fingered the red-speckled blade back in and handed it to a silent Hogarth.

Suddenly, in a white flash, Gold appeared behind Kina. The droid wrapped gild-coated arms around the girl and looked up to meet the Giant's eyes. "Thank you, 7000." She said with a bottom shutter lift; a smile of gratitude before she teleported herself and Kina to an unknown place. When the Giant looked back Hogarth was walking away from him to the inward valley of destroyed trestle track the Motorix had destroyed by plowing him down.

"Hogarth?" He questioned concernedly in his baritone voice.

The young man looked down at the red folding knife, out into the distance and then gave it a hard chuck. It fell spinning down into the eerily shadowed depths. Hogarth then grew disoriented from his bleeding wound and the pain Trant had inflicted on him. Groaning and moving around off-balance, he finally fell to his shoulder in the snow unconsciously.

Remembering the other time he had seen Hogarth in the snow like this, the Giant took a step toward him and looked down at the person who had been his mentor and friend when he had needed it most. Slowly, the great iron-clad automaton gently brought his big hands together and scooped the tattered, trembling young man up out of the frigid winter terrain. The Giant placed a dark grey-capped thumb to Hogarth's chest and felt the reassuring stream of his beating heart. If it had not been for Taylor's teaching, he would have never learned this.

x.x.x

Taylor hopped down out of the emerald craft from an ejection hole at the bottom before looking up at Trina. "I told you I was going to help you, Taylor." She told her, smiling.

"Thanks, Trin. You're like the sister I always wanted."

"And you're like the cousin I never had." The woman replied. "I see the worry on your face. Do not be so. I will face whatever comes my way, as I hope you will too Taylor."

"Where will you go? Back to Honolulu?"

"The medical facility, of course. We've relocated it here." Trina laughed a bit at her look. "Taylor, this is 2201. We are able to teleport entire cities if need be. Go see your friends."

Taylor ran a hand through her cropped hair and waved at her half-heartedly before turning to see the Giant through the thick mist with someone in his hands. Sighing to herself, she approached them. The Giant didn't look at her but moved what appeared to be Hogarth to his left hand before he lowered his right hand for her to board it. They both turned to see that blue-jumpsuit wearing people (Alpha people) were leading very distressed-looking purple-jumpsuit wearing people (Omega people) with their orbs pass the three of them.

There was suddenly, inexplicably a large range of lights out in the distance. Taylor gazed over at an unconscious Hogarth and immediately stumbled over to him. The Giant turned to look over his shoulder and from his height he could see Dean looking down lingeringly through the portal. They nodded to one another mutually and the Giant cupped both of his charges as he followed the thousands upon thousands of people to the teleported facilities.

Taylor saw the clean slice on Hogarth's jacket sleeve, a dark stain of red was soaking in through it. She immediately jerked off the old, worn leather jacket and used a few of the nurse mask covers from her tie-die jumpsuit to instantly clasp around his brawny arm. He appeared a lot more muscled (and hairy) then the previous eight months. But what made her gasp was the waning of Hogarth's face around his beard and the red of his shoulders.

It was the onset of frostbite.

"Oh, Hogarth…" She said fretfully.

The girl grabbed at his hands and breathed on them in an attempt to warm him, she than moved over him while trying to breathe warmth onto his shivering body. _It's a wonder he made it without an insulated jumpsuit, this is Iceland…_ Taylor thought to herself as she lowered her face over his and pressed hers into his chapped lips. A hair got in her mouth.

She ignored it and continued to breathe down his body, the blue luminance of the Giant's force-field spread in comforting arcs through laced fingers and the motion of his heavy steps brought on a peaceful sense. But Taylor knew Hogarth needed her body heat to live. Quickly, though regretfully, she zippered down the back of her jumpsuit and then zipped down Hogarth's torn jeans. The seventeen-year-old positioned herself over him and said in a quiet voice. "I'm not like you, Mom. I'm not a prostitute. But I can't stay pure now."

Taylor pulled Hogarth's pants to his waist, then his American flag-striped briefs and did what she had imagined many times. Despite his hobo-appearance, Taylor went to encircle Hogarth's neck before sinking her lips into his again. She kissed him in ravenous passion, tasting bad breath on her clean tongue before she felt a wave of innate pleasure take over.

To be continued…

LP


	21. Revival: Part 1 of 3

**A/N: **These next chapters will feature our favorite trio dealing with the consequences of their actions. BTW, break out the tissue box for this one.

'Why, man, he doth bestride the narrow world  
Like a Colossus, and we petty men  
Walk under his huge legs and peep about  
To find ourselves dishonorable graves.  
Men at some time are masters of their fates:  
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars,  
But in ourselves, that we are underlings."  
~Shakespeare, in Julius Caesar (Act I, Sc. II)'

I.

December 10th 1964, Late day…

Gordon wheeled Julianne McCoppin down the halls of the Supreme Courtroom with his mother spearheading the way; her suspicions about Trisha Evan's interference when she had dropped out of Rockwell eight months earlier had reached a head. The busty woman in red with golden jewelry marched down the hall towards the ladies room where someone had mentioned seeing a strange woman in woolen gray enter. Julie peered over a shoulder and Gordon met her eyes.

"Apples, why is your mama acting this way?"

The former football star scratched at his neck. "I reckon it's on account of Mama forgot to get her girdle this morning." He answered without fear that she would overhear, her enormously protruding rump bumped from side-to-side as they passed the closed, tall doors of the main courtroom. "Once Mama gets her mind made up, it's just best to go along with her Peaches."

"How many babies has she had?" She whispered up at him.

Gordon just bit his tongue.

As they passed a strong, authorial voice rose from the inside of the doors. "All right, with the exception of my passing out we will continue on with this case as though this never happened. What we have seen today…" the male voice trailed a bit. "I am not sure what to make of it. In light of recent events, we will now proceed with hearing Mr. Kent Mansley's testimony for the already confirmed murder of Annetta Hughes-McCoppin." And it was out. "You may proceed."

Gordon and Miss Rhinestien looked at each other in horror; Julianne knew but she didn't know how. The little girl looked up at them questioningly. "Murder means kill, right?" she asked in a quiet, pointblank voice. "Someone… did that to my mama?" The two were at a loss for words.

"Daddy!" Julianne yelled at the top of her little lungs, pushing her fragile, seven-year-old self up by the handle bars. "Daddy, don't let'em get you!" she wailed, for the first time emotional and worked up. Miss Rhinestien tried to settle her down. "No, Daddy's in trouble. Daaaaaddy!"

Gordon tried to get the squirming child to sit down. "Julie, Peach. You can't. This is a court."

"What do you have to say?" Came the frazzled voice of Dean McCoppin's lawyer; a time warp opening up inside the Supreme Court was more then a bit unusual. "Mr. Kent Arnold Mansley."

There was a long, debating silence.

"Your honor… I-I-." the man's voice was just as uncomprehending and unsure, and then there was a decision made. "Your honor," Kent Mansley somehow found a controlled tone. "I would like-." he paused. "I confirm all that the defense has said, Sergey Dimelo is guilty your honor."

He said this in front of the very people he had once betrayed; all fell silent at his admission.

"Please sit Mr. Rhinestien down while you are at it." The Supreme Court Justice finally spoke.

-_-_-

Seventy minutes later…

Julie watched the doors part and saw her disbelieving father walk out, the citizens of Rockwell all turned in his direction as he came up to his daughter, kneeled down to her level and placed his arms around her. A few people shut the doors as Dean pressed his teary-eyed daughter's heart-shaped face to his shirt, and for the first time in eight months they both began grieving.

"I'm sorry, baby." He whispered in her ear. "But your brother is fine." A small sob caught in his throat. "It's over for us." Dean picked out some of the gel from his dark hair, rubbing the back of Julie's own dark, curly hair. "We won, Julianne. We've won." The two embraced again.

"Hoggie is coming home?" She asked hopefully.

"That day will come." Her father told her. "Some day," he nodded with gratitude at a relieved- appearing Miss Rhinestien. "Thank you. Would you both like to join us at the local café now?"

"What 'bout the court case, Mr. McCoppin?" Gordon asked uncertainly.

The man turned to him in reassurance. "Our part is over and done with, Gord. Thank God."

"I'd like some hot chocolate." Julie piped up in recovery, rubbing at her red-ringed blue eyes.

Dean flashed her down a wide, brilliant grin. "Daddy could go for some espresso himself."

"I suppose so." Miss Rhinestien sighed to herself. "I suppose so…" she let the Trisha thing go. If these people were so accepting of things, the least she could do was make this child happy.

The four walked out into a pink and red streaked sunset, the wintry chill of December stirred the trees that waned in the fading daylight but for Julianne, her father, Gordon and Gordon's mother, the weather had never felt warmer and the sense of renewed life never felt so grand.

-_-_-

Nighttime, December 10th 2201 in Iceland…

"… And so I am not sure of how many Alpha D.C. and Honolulu volunteers survived," A young Hawaiian nurse explained to the Giant as she treated an Omega D.C. child with a high fever. It did not matter to her where the child had come from, she would not discriminate her patients.

The Giant, however, was finding himself having trouble with this.

"They could all have lost their lives?" He asked disconcertingly.

She looked up at him with sympathy. "There are survivors, just not a confirmed account."

They were in the exact auditorium that the Giant and the others had left in the send-off, its scaling dome ceiling and massive size was the only place big enough to accommodate all these people in such short time. After letting blue-and-green jumpsuit garbed medical personal take a sleeping Hogarth and Taylor (he hadn't looked at them), the Giant had wandered the insides of the auditorium and tried staying out of the way as the medical personal ran about tirelessly.

Now he sat by as a small boy with copper-ish hair and purple jumpsuit shoulders poking out lie on a cot under a wall overhang, when the child's eyes moved his way they quickly filled up with dislike and resentment towards the Giant. The robot looked away from him, and noticed a few other children lying on their beds in light green jumpsuits. They meet his eyes and smiled.

At this, the Giant rose to his feet and looked out through a long row of window pane. He folded his arms on the top of the overhang as he gazed out in deep thought to the sheer blanket of flurry white he had spent six and a half years at. This was where he had worked so hard at honing control over his weapons; now all that had been wasted when he had used them to try and save the two people who meant so much to him. In doing so, the Giant betrayed himself.

But if he hadn't used his laser eyes, Hogarth might not be here or might have done something regretful. And then he had nearly used them to stop that man from gunning down Taylor also.

_Hogarth_ --- he had nearly zapped the Giant with a gun to go back to the past. _Taylor_ --- she had gone back on her word about staying where it was safe. The automaton turned to see the people running everywhere; they somehow looked so small to him now. How easy would it be just to use force to make things at peace? He had the size, weaponry, their trust --- the very absurd notion sent quivers down his ironed spine, and he remembered that it was his choice.

He had been the one to use his powers. His only reassurance was that he had had a very good reason for breaking his morality and that maybe Hogarth and Taylor would pull through. How could the Giant ever have thought such a thing? He gave a heavy sigh and moved away from the ceiling- parallel windows. Now he walked pass the privacy wall overhang when someone below caught his attention, the Giant kneeled down as a little girl in purple moved in circles.

She was an Omega D.C. kid. He braced himself for her to send him a look of hatred when the blonde-haired girl turned his way. "I fell out of bed, could you lead me back to it sir?" Her blue eyes were on him, but somehow she didn't seem to see him. "Hello? Aren't you going to talk?"

The Giant still felt tentative of her and waved a finger before her eyes; she gave a tired sigh at this and caught the Giant's big index finger. "Can you see that?" he asked her out of curiosity, forgetting for a moment the confusing distrust he had felt developing towards people. Now the Giant wondered how this child would react now that she knew who he was, and what he was. He felt a fleeting want to return to the glacier and his old way of life. The Giant had the option. Hogarth had had it too and hadn't gone home, and so had Taylor. He felt so very, very unsure.

"I am blind." The little girl said patiently, she wrapped her purple-sleeved arms around his iron finger and pulled herself up to her feet. The Giant saw that something round lie under her bed, glowing a gentle yellow. "Could you please guide me to my bed?" she requested of him again.

He brought his shutters together with compassion towards her plight, and escorted the girl back to her bedside. The girl crawled over and under the heavy covers before she poked her head out, blowing hair wisps out of her face. "All right?" The Giant asked. She shut her eyes.

It didn't look like she would respond anymore, but as he stood up he felt a hand on his finger.

"You're nice for a droid." A small smile fell across the child's face as did her blonde bangs.

"Thank you." The unnamed girl did not know and would never know how much he meant this.

The Giant looked down at his knees and pushed up on them to reach his full height, feeling a renewed sense of faith and hope. He noticed that people were thinning out as they got others to assigned rooms, and saw that the assistant droids were migrating in one general direction.

"They are going to receive re-fueling if you are interested." A middle-aged man in dark blue mentioned to him as he went from bed-to-bed with a floating cart stacked with trays of food for the children. "It's a bit of a walk." The Giant's stomach gave a famished growling at this. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks." He said to the tray passer guy and headed off without hesitation.

_I hope they have old solar crafts, those are my favorite._

_-_-_

Taylor stared down at the uneaten tofu sandwich in her hand, she had drank the hot tea but moved the unappetizingly breaded, meat-flavored gunk around absently from where she was braced to the catwalk's siding on the outside of the teleported medical facilities; it was where she had spent her second night in the future back when the Giant had stood up to Trant's first Motorix and had accidentally self-imploded himself. How very naïve and young she had been.

The young woman tucked some of her blade-cut bangs back self-consciously as she heard the sound of footsteps approaching, Taylor dropped the sandwich carelessly and tugged up on her old bell bottoms as she turned to see an unsure-looking Inx approach her. "Hello." He greeted.

"How's it going?" She answered in slight irritation, turning away as a blush crept over her doll-like face. Taylor made sure they were tight over her tie-die suit stomach before turning to face him. "I'm not sure what it is you could possibly want, what with your conspiring against me…"

"Excuse me?"

She folded her arms as she ticked off her points. "Giving your job up, trying to coax me to go to the past when I wasn't ready. Inx, my friends had to save me after you deserted me." His slitting brown eyes grew incredulous. "Then you just show up at the end like some big hero."

"I did it all for you." Inx defended himself quickly. "Unlike that Hogarth-."

"He protected me, Inx." She cut him off. "All he's ever done was to make sure I was safe."

"He uses foul language, dresses slovenly…"

Taylor gripped at her elbows, crinkling her little upturned nose. "Hogarth's been through a lot and I haven't seen him in months, Inx. He's probably been through more then everyone has."

Why couldn't he just leave her alone? She felt bad enough as it were.

"I seriously doubt it, Taylor." The Korean man said with outright annoyance. "And no, I am not jealous of him." His tone of voice said otherwise. "You should have gone back." He then turned sincere, holding his hands out to her. "I would have adjusted to your life back in 1964. I would have done-" he crossed his arms and looked down at his feet. "What it took to win you to me."

"They said I'll miss my period next week." Taylor said simply and looked away.

Inx dropped his arms to his sides and looked up at her. "What?"

"They found it out after they ran a quick health scan on me." She toyed with a white ring on her pinky finger. "When they asked me if they could find out who the father was, I said no."

"Hogarth." He voiced his suspicions.

"I thought it was the only way to save him." Taylor stifled a sob and placed her face into her hands, she felt Inx rest a hand on her shoulder. "I know we only knew each other a short time before, but then I felt reconnected after seeing Hogarth again." she sank into Inx's solacing arms. They stood together for a long with the fine snow particles swirling around their bodies, two people from two other times of different ethnics and backgrounds stood pressed together.

"You are right," He finally said, pulling back and cupping her chin. "I do not know of how you feel towards him, but I will respect it." Taylor smiled slightly, thankful that he saw it her way. "Sorry I put on such an act." She glanced down at her purity ring and began to remove it. "I guess I won't need this anymore." Inx caught her wrist. "No, you will. If it turns out that the Council brushes up on 1960th history, it may do you good to keep your symbol of innocence."

"What if they find out, Inx?" She asked seriously, fear casting over her like a dark shadow.

The man sighed. "Well, it would mark a third offense." He met her eyes truthfully. "Your first was from when we first met and your second was entirely my fault, I… I should not have done what I did Taylor." Inx stepped away from her in shame. "They will judge me tomorrow also."

Taylor took a breath and placed a hand on his shoulder now. "Inx," she pulled him around to face her and climbed up on his feet to match his height. "We'll face this together tomorrow, whatever happens." They slowly leaned in to one another, and closed their lips in together.

In a matter of seconds Inx pulled back.

"Well?" He asked with a breathy, hopeful smile as they stood under cloudy and misty night.

"Good," Taylor said and added coyly before ruffling his hair. "But… not like Hogarth and mine."

"You wish to see him in the morning?"

"Yes," She said before hugging herself. "Burr. Chilly. Let's go in for right now."

"And for now you would like to know where your friend the Giant is?" Inx asked, lifting a brow.

Taylor gave him a light jab in the ribs as they went. "It's like you know me or something."

They laughed at her predictability. "It still intrigues me that this droid displays humanity."

"Well, it still intrigues me that some people act more like droids then humans." She countered and lingered back a moment. Lord, please be with my loved ones. Taylor rubbed her stomach.

-_-_-

"She is beautiful." Gold said in a gentle voice. The gild-plated droid had teleported them back to a still-standing building in Washington D.C. with a teleporter she had swiped from Kina's cousin Trina. Now cradled in Kina's paste-white arms was a baby girl of light skin, little hazel –green eyes and a tuft of reddish-brown hair. "Yes," the eighteen-year-old replied. "Abba is."

"The infant appears as your mother did."

Kina closed her eyes at this mention.

Gold had done all she could for the woman, after delivering Kina and (biologically) Hogarth's child the robot had provided her former human master with nutrient pellets left behind after the Omega D.C. take over, a bath and a change of clothes. They were both in an empty room down a medical wing of the scientist facilities. Kina looked up at the attentive droid thankfully.

"And after all I have done to you," she looked down at the suckling infant in her lanky limbs, saying in a sorrowful, sniffling way. "To think… how I treated you 35, 000." The droid stroked Kina's shoulder once with her thumb-severed hand. "In truth, I feel I can trust no one else."

Gold nodded her gilded head once, casting a loving look with reflective green eyes down at the two. "You are safe now, Kina." She turned away to retrieve a fresh diaper. "And Abba as well."

Rosie the robot had a run for her bolts.

"It is such a shame I cannot trust anyone but you." Kina sat the child on the pillow and stood up to reach around behind her back. "My father would never accept me back, Trant is gone, my followers have been accepted back to the Alpha side and all I have left are you two girls."

"I am sorry for that, Kina." The droid said as she busily searched for an expandable diaper in the turned over mess of medical supplies. "Now I know I placed them somewhere." Gold had resided here after Hogarth had convinced her of her choice in life. "Where do you suppose…"

"And Hogarth spurned my affections." Kina said spitefully; the baby made an upset moan.

"Found one."

"That is why I choose you, Gold."

As the droid turned around, Kina advanced toward her with a wicked, wild grin. She backed away from the crazed person held up a glowing green tubular object. "I designed this just in case things didn't work out, it will take your ability to transmute to the highest level possible."

"No, Kina…" Gold rose her hands up and stepped back. "I refuse this. What of your child?"

Kina sent the baby an examining look as Abba's round, red face crinkled from a wet diaper; she turned back to the droid. "What of it? I was going to use Hogarth's copied 7000 orb to combine the child's DNA for the first of my cyborg fleets, but now that you have returned…"

"Kina." The droid drew back frightfully. "No, you can turn things around. I have! Your father would forgive you if you would only try and if not you still have me. Kina, no---no---no.. NO!"

Gold quickly pulled out the one-way teleportation device that would send a person back and forth, she dodged Kina's crazed attack and thrust the device to land beside the wailing baby. Her relief was brief as the infant on the pillow was teleported to the one place she'd be safe. A brilliant, terrifying emerald light came out of the room as the biological mergence commenced. No one's love, kindness or compassion had been enough to save Kina from her worst enemy.

-_-_-_-

The Giant walked up to a line of robots not unlike children waiting for a cafeteria meal, he tapped at his metal mandible and tried to offer them a friendly wave. An orange-colored one looked up at him with yellow eye beams at this gesture, blinked twice and pointed to the back.

"Hi there." He tried to make conversation with his own kind. "So… I need to go to the end?"

"That is the mandatory obligation Droid 7000."

"Actually, you can just call me Giant."

"Not negotiable," The blank-faced robot told him in automation. "My indicators detect you are one of the earliest forms of droids built for asteroid defense. You are Production Number: 7000."

"I'll get back to you on that." He said politely and moved back behind the long, long line of much smaller and brightly-colored droids. It had been worth a try. The Giant was relieved to observe a gradual increase in the line; he took inching steps while the newer droids took steps two at a time.

Finally they arrived at a single door, the droids didn't seem bothered as the huge grey Retro-robot curiously peered down inside to see a man in a dark blue jumpsuit sticking a white hose into a red droid's hip like a long metal snout into the gas gage of a car. The process took all of ten seconds before he hollered "Next!" in a grouchy, tired voice. The orange droid from before came forward and the man stuck the end of the hose this time to the gas gage located in the droid's rumpus area.

The Giant's white pupils dilated a little at seeing this, he stood up and glanced back at the studded column that served as his rumpus area. Somehow the idea of tube feeding and feeding anywhere other then in his mouth was not good. As the droid left, he bent down and peered inside the door.

"You wouldn't happen to have any regular metal, would you?"

The overweight, black-bearded man gave him a once over. "This is smelted metal from the broke train tracks outside," he spat sideways. "it is either go get some of that or settle for this stuff, pal."

With his belly crying, the Giant took the offered hose and placed it into his mouth resignedly. He had eaten all types of metal before of all different shapes and sizes, but this was the first he had ever drank metal. The iron '50-foot-tall robot sat down, hose dangling out of his mouth like one huge strand of spaghetti. "How long will it take?" he asked the metal liquid provider guy, sighing.

"Don't get too comfy; just because you're a famous droid don't mean you get special treatment."

"All right, all right…" The Giant replied, trying not to sound testy. _My stars, I only asked…_

Three and a half hours later…

The man gaped as the last of his liquefied metal contents were drained; he glared at the apologetic looking Giant. "Sorry. But you see, I need to have a lot of metal to eat and if you need me to go-."

"Right, right. No one owns you. Well, first thing tomorrow I want you back out here to go gather some more metal out there. If you eat like garbage truck, you're going to work like one too palsy." The man himself looked like the guy riding on a garbage truck. "I'll be here." The Giant said to him eagerly, the idea of eating real metal was circuit-watering. He then stood up and went on his way.

-_-_-_-

Taylor stepped out into the auditorium with an open mind, tomorrow she would deal with the fact that she had left Honolulu for here without permission. The girl noticed children lying in cots and felt surge of sadness for them. She was about to search out for the Giant when two little children who were (surprisingly) in tie-dye jumpsuits came rushing up to her with computerized screens.

"You are Taylor, right?"

"Yes."

The child's face lit up and she grinned. "Taylor Evans, the past girl who stopped the Omegas?"

"I… guess…"

"May we have your autograph?"

Taylor smiled sweetly at them and took the offered pen. "How could I say 'no' to you two?" she signed her name on both in very careful cursive. "Here, Taylor E.R. Roberta Evans." It felt a bit wrong for her not to include her old initials Erika Robinson now that her identity was discovered.

"I can't read this." The young girl protested slightly. "Is this how you write in the past?"

"Yes," She explained. "It's called English."

They both looked at each other excitedly. This must have been what Marsha Brady felt like with all those young girl fans. Taylor thought and rolled her eyes a bit at the idea of being famous. She then spotted the Giant further along the wall some ways away, and ushered the girls to run along.

"Let us go find Mom, Charna."

"By the way…" The other girl turned to her before leaving with her friend. "My name is Lika, as in when I want to grow up I want to be like-a you." She laughed forcedly at her own joke. Taylor smiled kindly and waved them good-bye, but when she tried to direct one over at the Giant who had now taken notice he merely looked away. "Hi, Mr. Giant." Charna called over to him in glee.

He waved at them patiently.

Taylor took a bracing sigh and approached him. "Hi yourself." She greeted, folding her arms.

The Giant's upper shutters fell a little as he turned to appraise her briefly. "Are you all right?"

"I've been better…" she admitted before turning concerned on him. "How about you?"

He gave an indifferent "hmm" before looking away, not even trying to keep in normal spirits.

"Giant?" Taylor asked a little more seriously, catching on that something was definitely amiss.

When he turned his white gaze back on her it was brimming with discontentment. "You didn't keep your promise." The Giant said in reference to her leaving Honolulu after she had told him, along with the officials who had funded the mission that she would wait for the Giant to return with Hogarth. Obviously, that plan had gone completely awry. He looked down at his kneecaps.

"Giant, if you'd let me explain…"

No response.

Taylor bullied up then. "Giant, my word! Sometimes you can be so frustrating!" she declared in annoyance, making him shutter his eyes closed. "You expect everyone to do exactly what they say every single time, but what you have got to learn is no one can be perfect. Not even you."

They attracted looks possibly as no one had ever heard anyone talk to the usually peaceful though intimidating robot this way, as most looked to him as some sort of celebrity for his past history or just steered clear of him altogether. To hear and see someone talk to him this way was strange.

But of course, most people weren't friends with the droid population.

"I mean," Taylor ignored them as she tightened her arms to her chest. "There is such a thing as being too trusting…" she saw his shutters open when she said this and softened her tone. "Giant, will you please look at me?" He gave her one final glance before averting his eyes sideways now.

Not to be denied, the petite girl rolled back her shoulders and marched under his twenty-foot-tall, arching legs. The Giant opened his eyes completely when he saw her on the other side, giving the grey robot an insistent look. He stubbornly went back to his regular position and closed the gap in between his legs with a clank so that she couldn't pass under them. Taylor pursued her small lips and climbed over his square-toed foot in order to stand between them --- They had to talk this out.

The Giant lowered his upper shutters as she stood in between his towering legs. "Maybe you're right… maybe I am too trusting." He told her with quiet acceptance in his baritone voice; Taylor brought her blonde brows together and looked downwards. The Giant rose to his full height and began to walk away without one single backward glance at her. A wave of great loss hit Taylor.

"So that's it then." She said after him with an emotion-thick, indignant voice. "Just like that and we're not friends anymore…" when she said this he froze in his tracks and turned around to face her. "No," The Giant argued gently. "That's not it." She didn't face him when he said this to her.

"That's how you make it seem." Taylor choked back a wad of tears that threatened.

"Taylor," he placed a hand to his chest, explaining to the girl. "What if I had lost you?"

She turned to look upwards as the gigantic iron robot approached her. "If anything had happened to you, I don't know what I would have done." He went down on one knee and encircled the girl with two of his fingers before thumbing her chin up, that's when Taylor saw what she meant to him. She laid her cheek to his dark grey thumb tip and cupped it with her hand as tears surfaced.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to make you cry." The Giant apologized softly.

"No, don't be." Taylor wiped at her hazel eyes. "I never meant to hurt you Giant." He titled his Astrodome-shaped head slightly. "Then why?" She gathered herself and explained, taking a deep breath. "Because I was afraid I'd never get to go home, I was just trying to get you to see that…"

The Giant gave a thoughtful "hmm" before sitting back down against the wall.

"So," Taylor slid her fingers in her bell bottom pockets and moved her shoe about. "Forgive me?"

He gave her a calmed look and lowered his left hand so she could climb onto the top of it, Taylor smiled and sat down with her legs brought up facing him as he folded both his arms onto his big knees. "Only if you can forgive me for expecting too much." She frowned and shook her heard.

"You didn't, I should've been good on my word."

"I just wanted to understand why." The Giant told her. Taylor sent him a warm look. "Let's not stay angry with each other, okay?" He nodded at that and held out two of his fingers before her. "Team?" She nodded back at him and placed her hand on them as he touched it with his thumb.

"Team." Taylor confirmed, she looked down at the grey-tipped thumb and placed her other hand on it. "And there's no 'I' in team, right?" The girl asked with a pointed smile. "No, even if it is in Iron Giant." He replied, but gave her an equally mindful look. "What about in Erika Robinson?"

"Not even then."

The Giant gave her a playfully challenging look before using the thumb from the hand she was sitting on to cover hers. "You've ran out of hands." He informed the girl with a deep chuckle. She furled her legs up and over her head, then placed them daintily on his thumb top in a pretzel pose.

"Ah, my pupil. But now you know defeat by da feet." Taylor joked in a wise Chinese guy accent.

"How come you never told me you could do that?" The Giant asked curiously.

She returned to sitting normally. "I'd have blown my cover. Besides, you and Hogarth-." That's when they hit a fork in the road; the Giant squinted his shutters and looked away. "What do you think?" Taylor asked him concernedly. He met her eyes. "I don't know what to think about him."

With a preparatory breath, she walked across his octangularly-cylinderic arm. "I didn't see what happened with you both at the portal, Giant. But he's still our friend, yours especially, and he's going to need us now more then ever." He nodded. "I'll always watch over him, friend or not."

"Do you want to tell me what happened when you and Hogarth met again?"

The Giant heaved a heavy sigh. "You wouldn't want to know, Taylor." His eyes suddenly widened and he peered down over his leg to a small purple jumpsuit-wearing boy hugging onto his ankle.

Taylor and he exchanged puzzled looks before the Giant transported her to his left shoulder, and placed his fingers gently on the child's back. Light blonde-haired Tress looked up at him now, an elated-looking smile on his face. "Tress!" The Giant exclaimed in surprise at seeing the boy after all time. He hadn't seen the kid since the very first night the trio had traveled there to the future.

"Oh, right. Hogarth mentioned you." Taylor said with interest.

"Hogarth told me you both were dead." Tress said in a small voice, this left the robot and her off-guard. "It's… probably just a misunderstanding." She mentioned to the disbelieving Giant. He let it go and turned back to his pint-sized acquaintance. "Where's Ven at, Tress? Did he come also?"

"I can't find him… Giant, could I say with you for a while?" A quick survey around showed that the lights in the huge auditorium were going out, and children were tucking away for the night's rest.

"Mmm-hmm." He finally nodded.

Compassion extended between him and Taylor at the child's need, and the Giant brought the two together in a cupping bowl in his hands. Taylor tried to embrace the child but he kept his distance.

"My brother says that Hogarth said that real men don't hug." Taylor and the Giant exchanged a bit of a concerned look. "Giant," he sank into the teenager's arms when she wasn't looking, and peered over at the iron-clad automaton with mist-filmed brown eyes. "Are you still a superhero?"

The Giant brought his shutters together. "I try to be…" he answered in quiet, bass voice.

"Tress, even heroes aren't perfect." Taylor tried to reason, her tone gently maternal. "What about Superman?" The child tried to argue quickly, slipping a torn, water-stained first issue from out of his jumpsuit, at seeing the comic book the Giant's mouth became slightly agape. Taylor laughed a bit at the boy's innocent sense of justice. "Love, Superman couldn't even keep after Louis Lane."

The Giant did not laugh, but repeated with empathy. "Even heroes aren't perfect, Tress."

He looked down at the old comic book, the one that had been a defining moment centuries ago, as Tress laid his cheek against Taylor's small bosoms. The Giant watched him closely, the way his sun-blonde hair swept over his fore head and how his light freckles showed out in speckles on the bridge of his little nose, of how Tress clutched the altruistic fictional hero to himself like a shield.

And then the Giant remembered. "_You're not like Atomo, you're a good guy… like Superman_!"

He lifted his large iron face to gaze up at the clear black night through the window panels, with stars settling on the faintest mist of cloud as it encompassed it's billions of silver specters in the eternal ebony firmament. The Giant said up at the sky in sweet, sad reminiscence. "Hogarth…"

What the young man really needed from him was his friendship and his protection. A hero.

-_-_-_-

"Should we remove that orb from beside him?" A medical personal asked as they evaluated the disheveled patient lying unconscious inside a dry-cool bed. The idea was that they could reverse the setting and instead of getting him wet, soak away the start of frostbite by layering him with a coat of warm vapors. "No," Another person answered indifferently. "The process will take a few moments and the metal sphere would not tarnish either way." He and the other one left the room.

Hogarth could feel the stinging on his arm where the knife wound ran up it, but a heat generating around him made him feel that he was safe. However, his mind was muddled by confusion and in a state of shock. His friends… they were alive. His mother… could she be? Did Hogarth almost do what he think he had to Kina? He felt the familiar roundness of the Giant's orb at his fingers.

It penetrated the inside with a blooming radiance of yellow, a small shadowy figure with two eyes and thin pointy legs suddenly stood up. The creature looked around in confusion as it stumbled to find it's bearings like a newborn calf. A set of green digits and data appeared on the orb's exterior where Hogarth touched it. "DNA signature for activation: Denied. Not Kina's." Came a womanly automated voice. The creature tried to lunge at the inside, but stumbled back and shook it's head.

"Mmm-mmm-mmm."

"_No Atomo… I Superman_!" Was the only voice that reached his ears. Hogarth smiled in memory at hearing the familiar voice in his head. "Giant." He whispered in his sleep and gave the orb an affectionate graze. The creature turned yellow optics his way and began to crawl over to where his hand rested on the outside. "Access denied." The automated voice said without awareness of the fact that the person touching the in labor orb was on cloud nine, its occupant came up closer.

Hogarth's thumb somehow gained access into the ball as a metal hole slid open, the little creature inside reached out and touched the tip of his nail. As the thumb went to absently stroke the top of it's tiny yellow eyes, it clutched around his rough knuckle before gazing up at him in recognition.

"Ho-garth!" The creature squeaked in a happy, girl-sounding voice. It was still underdeveloped, but climbed onto his thumb to wrap itself on him while rotating it's lit eyes closed. "Ho-garth…"

"DNA signature invalid." The automated voice again repeated. "Not Kina's."

Hogarth and the napping creature didn't take notice. "Giant." He repeated his name once more. They slept soundly inside the dry-cool bath, Hogarth with his thumb inside the orb like a bowler and the little creature hugging itself to it. The Milky Way outside twinkled with newborn starlets.

To be continued….

I cannot disclose her name as of yet… oh all right. I'll let you know, see if you can unscramble it and put it in the correct order. y m g P y e T h n I r o. Learn more in the next chapter.

LP


	22. Revival: Part 2 of 3

**A/N: **I just can't stay away from writing this. Also, we will learn a lot about the world in 2201 these upcoming chapters.

~-~-~-~

I. December 11th 2201, morning...

The sky was gloomy and gray in Iceland as the Giant flew over a great fin of icy ridge on the Langjökull glacier with armfuls of broken (and partially chomped) metal from around the tracks that had been broken, and from his own several-century old secret stashes also.

Approaching, he saw the networking medical facilites below which held friends, enemies and allies from his place high in the air, the Giant lessened the flaming fuel of his rocket jet feet as he made an easy nose-dive to a small section of the building towards the back.

"I hope this is enough," the robot commented to himself as he looked over the icy, rusted scrap and metal train track in his arms. A back door slid open and he was surprised to see Archer step out, the man was aged with crippled features but a sincerness in his old eyes.

"The droids will not go hungry," he said with a chuckle to the Giant, patting the arms of his insulated jumpsuit. "That is good to see." There was a flicker of worry across his wide, wrinkled face. "Mind setting your findings aside for the moment? I'd like to have a talk."

"All right." The Giant said compliantly and emptied his arms of the scrap near the steel, reinforced outer wall. He turned to the man whom had been both a friend and ally to him since the very beginning. "This isn't about Hogarth, is it?" Ambiguity toward the young man still settled in his massive iron gullet, Archer shook his head assuringly at the Giant.

"No, he is all right but still resting. The boy will need this morning to recuperate before we will see him again. As you already know, many of the Omega D.C. will be evaluated by a special department of the World Affairs Council. Since you were part of the mission to halt my daughter from entering the time warp, you and the surviving Alpha volunteers will not be judged. Although they may mention something of your using your weaponry."

"They know about that?"

Archer gave an unpleasant "mmm" to indicate his dislike toward their meddling. "The entire world is one of free consumerism, yet they constantly impose in many matters."

The Giant gazed over mediatively at the pile of scrap, saying with regret. "I removed the magnet to save my friends, it was the only way." He shuttered his eyes, still a bit shamed.

"You did what you thought was right," Archer inserted. "Do not linger in guilt as I do."

"What will they do to Hogarth?" He looked at him with anticpation in his voice and eyes.

"The same as they will do with Taylor and other violaters of our codes," The tired sixty-something man said, resigned to powerlessness. "sentence him however they see fit. But it will not include banishment." Archer grew ominious. "We have already seen firsthand the rebellion that festers from resentfulness of total exclusion." He referred to the Omega.

"Why did they want to return to the past, anyway? Is it the lack of atmosphere?" His focus has been primarily Hogarth.

"In part." Archer breathed heavily. "But let us not focus on this at the moment, what I have come to say is very important concerning you." He walked over to the edge of the porch, the Giant landed down so that he was level with the buildings and more level with the man. "You lived here many moons ago, but do you know what powers this contient?"

"Well, no." The Giant rubbed at his tubular-ringed neck. "It can't be oil because there are no natural resources here, and I don't think there's enough sun for solar power." The look that Archer gave him wasn't a promising one. "Does this have something to do with me?"

"You always seem to be in the center of matters," He smiled apologetically before giving the Giant a grave nod. "I suppose by now you have learned there are many with differing opinions on you." The robot nodded at this. "And there are many who live in Iceland who are searching for quicker geothermal sources, and you hold a plethora of that solidified gas Giant."

He took a step back, trying to not to look startled.

"If they could isolate the nuclear chemical composition in you that allows you to transmute, they could use your remaining structure for many years of electricity. The missile reaction, of course."

"People have always looked at me differently, even tried to destroy me. But to use me as fuel?"

"It is a new view on you." Archer continued on with unmasked disgust in his voice. "And since no one claims ownership over you and any sort of droid citizenship has been placed on hold, there is no telling what some across Earth could do. As a scientist, I would agree with them." His olive eyes filled with sadness. "As a person of ethnics toward intelligent life forms, I fully disapprove."

"What will I need to do?" The Giant asked him critically, shutters closing inward.

"After your companions are met with the Council, then you'll need to return to your own time."

"Here?"

"No." Archer told him. "This time warp has already dissolved, and with my daughter's current whereabouts unknown it is safe to assume you will need to return to the only other existing one."

The Giant tilted his head slightly. "Okay…?" he disliked it when people would hedge the truth.

"The same you accidentally traveled through centuries ago, the one located in Maine."

His eyes opened in surprise and he said in a state of reverie. "Rockwell."

~-~-~-~

II.

Reverberations of voices drifted around his head, but Hogarth couldn't make out whose they were. He felt as though the lightness was leaving his body as the presence of someone behind his wall of inner shadow filled his senses with a gentle calmness. Someone stroked a hand down his cheek.

"Everyone is safe, Hogarth." Came a woman's voice he had heard since his infant days.

"Mom?" The teenager lifted his lids and in a hazy blur made out his mother's round face, her soft brown bangs were swept across her fair-skinned features. "Mom, where are you? Are you okay?"

"I'll always watch over you." The presence vanished.

With a startled gasp, Hogarth sat upright in bed with a jolt. He felt his chest heave with breaths and muscles ache from the harrowing rush he had endured. Looking around Hogarth saw he was in a room to himself; the walls were unfurnished except for a mirror with a door off to the far side.

"I'm alive?" Disbelief swept across his bearded face. "I'm alive!" he laughed loudly and threw up his arms "And my friends…they're alive too! Oh, thank God…" Hogarth lowered down onto his knees like a humble servant upon his bed, saying with deep gratitude. "Thank you, Lord Jesus."

He flopped back as he was finally able to contain his joy and alleviation better. Hogarth glanced over at the side table with a happy drunken look and felt his blue eyes nearly bug out of his head, lying by his cot side was a plate of what looked to be a sandwich, fruit and a type of bowl.

"_Food_…" He said, feeling his mouth water a bit. "After eight months of nutrition pellet shit, real food." Hogarth folded his hands, said a quick prayer and then lay back on his pillow. With a few quick shifty looks, he placed the white cushion over his face and reached for the pair. Unseen but definitely heard Hogarth noisily devoured it, he then reached for the sandwich and gobbled it too.

"Mmm…tastes like roast beef." The taste suddenly turned flavorless. "Ugh!" he tossed the pillow aside and grabbed the bowl up before throwing his head back to allow the warm tea to run down his throat. "Brother," Hogarth clutched at his throat. "It's a good thing I didn't drink the tea first."

Letting the caramel taste settle in him, he noticed his reflection from across the way in the mirror. In a state of wonder, Hogarth got to his feet and didn't take notice that his blade-slashed arm was in a sort of rubbery sling. The young man crossed the room to take himself in; who he saw was in fact how he felt inside. The person was shown to be a ragged, worn-out and burned out teenaged kid with raggedy jeans, torn white T-shirt and a mass of tangled hair that could pass as a jungle.

"Pretty pitiful, Hughes," Hogarth commented with a sardonic smirk, folding his brawny arms and glancing over at the folded leather jacket. "How ironic, Taylor's supposed to be the hippie and yet I'm the one who looks like one." His unsavory humor faded away at those words: Taylor and iron.

Hogarth fell against the wall and slid down, draping his arms inside of his legs. "What am I going to do?" he felt a twang of heartache enter his chest. "God, I am so damn thankful that gay whore and Kina were wrong about my friends. But… will they ever take me back? After all the horrible things I've done?" he dug his hands into his bushel of bangs. "I really am not deserving of them."

With a heavy sigh, the young man peered around the room and then noticed his secured arm. "I guess if they didn't want me they'd have left me to freeze out there." He sat back with a musing expression and tugged at his straggly beard. "Well, I'm just going to have to make it up to them."

The memory of his long depression-induced encounter at the portal resurfaced. "Especially the Giant." Hogarth added in resolution and glanced up as the door slid open to reveal an Asian man.

~-~-~-~

III. Washington D.C.

She felt her tense muscles tear and her body's tendons strain as she dragged the new robotic half of herself along the wastelands of Washington D.C., Kina let out groans of pain with every single step she drug. The human side of her was having great trouble keeping up with the infused part of her former droid; Gold had taken off with Abba and she was left to wander utter desolation alone.

"That no good droid…" Kina muttered to herself between stretches of agony, the droid half was still lagging behind as she picked through some rubble in search of nutrient pellets. "She was a deserter from the beginning. Trant is gone, my Iron Giant orbs are gone and… and… aahhhhhh!"

A muck-covered shard of glass in the dirt clumped rubble showed her new appearance: Her lanky, bone-colored face was contorted and disfigured toward the middle where half of Gold's gild face and emerald eye beam made out the rest of her face. Kina placed her spindly fingers to her lips as her straggly ebony locks fluttered before her. A deep, sinking sense of loss overcame the woman.

"Gold!" she hollered out into the humid air. "Please… come back to me! Please." No one heeded her calls. The self-mutilated cyborg fell to her metal-and-gangly knees, sobbing. "Return, please."

But the realization that it was far too late to regain her only friend's trust permanently evaporated Kina's humanity, when the semi-fembot looked up again she saw a man approaching her. He was tall and broad-shouldered dressed in a tattered brown police suit with a pair of broken sunglasses on the bridge of his nose. Spitting sideways, he came up to the downtrodden and defeated cyborg.

"The name's James, James Rhinestien."

"What do you require?" Kina's voice was now secreted with a static laced, automatic tone.

The former Rockwell sheriff of 1964 gave her a crooked side grin. "I've been doin' deals with the future folk around the globe, a lot of'em would like the Iron Giant for fuel and some would like to have a gander at the droid-lover Garth Hughes as well." He slipped out a cigar, lit it and blew out a stream of cinnamon-tinged smoke in Kina's face carelessly. "You'd like your orbs back, right?"

"Affirm---." She tried speaking normally, but the droid side of herself locked control over her and took control. "Affirmative, Mr. Rhinestien." James didn't seem in the least bit interested that she was suffering. "Yes sum," He turned his shaded eyes skyward. "With ol' Sergey's help, I've got more money and power then I ever had as a protector of the law. And damn it, who needs them?"

"Sir… help." Kina tried to appeal to him, but her droid side stood up straight to a height of seven foot tall. Something he said suddenly registered. "Sergey? My Russian grandfather?" Her whole plans had been possible because of that 'wonderful' man. "Where is his present whereabouts?"

Gordon's father folded his arms surely. "I have connections with a race of rebel robots that refer to themselves as The Reapers. Didn't want nothin' to do with a human like me, and would have killed me on the spot if I hadn't mentioned having connections with their enemy the Iron Giant."

"You hold connections with those who wish to eliminate 7000 and Garth Hughes?" Kina asked.

James nodded and extended a manly hand to her. "Accept my partnership."

The pre-programmed, devoid of virtue droid half of the woman responded. "Accepted."

~-~-~-~

"So you are Hogarth." The person in a light green jumpsuit said with an interested look.

"Actually," He stood up with a clever smile and brushed invisible dust off his arms. "They call me Garth." Both looked each other over before Hogarth decided the man posed no threat, he took a deep breath and tried again more personably. "I'm guessing you're not here to buddy up to me."

"I am assigned to escort Omega D.C. members and any assistants they may have had for what a past person may call an interview." The man told him formally. Hogarth could see that when he said 'assigned' he meant 'sentenced', 'escort' meant 'lead' and 'interview' meant a 'sentencing.'

"All righty, then." He said in compliable spirits, determined not to get on the Asian-looking guy's bad side. "Just let me grab up my coat and we'll head on out." Hogarth snatched up the torn black leather jacket, threw it over his shoulder and made his way confidently over towards the doorway.

"But first," The twenty-something man held up a hand to halt him, he took out a ball of rubbery yellow goop before holding it over the young man's hands. "Do not be alarmed, this only serves a temporal bond until we reach our destination. Until then your hands must be secured I'm afraid."

Hogarth allowed him to drop the stuff on his hands with a slightly amused smile, and shrugged it off indifferently as they made their way down the hall. "Nothin' I haven't earned." He said resignedly and casually observed their surroundings. They were up on a tall level inside spacious hallways with tan-colored walls, evenly spaced sliding doors and a clear view out into a big room.

"I am Inx, by the way."

The sounds of sliding doors gave Hogarth the unsettling feeling of prison doors slamming. "Nice jailhouse you have here, but I don't think the king would be doing much rocking around this place." He saw that Inx was slightly curious but neither responded. "So, am I considered a prisoner Inx?"

"No, we have no prisoners in the future Mr. Hughes. And this is not a prison." The man turned more personable with him. "It is a medical facility. As of right now you are considered a patient."

"Well," Hogarth gave a good-natured chuckle. "You say tomato, I say tomahto. People always do seem to see things for what they want to see, and not what's really there." He let his gaze wander.

"I do now understand." Inx sent him a perplexed look. "Things are what they are, nothing more or nothing less exists beyond what our eyes tell us." The seventeen-year-old met his eyes patiently.

"Inx, when you've seen as much as I have you gain a new perceptive on things." Hogarth always felt content with disclosing his views with others. "But, hey, you have your opinions and I've got mine. And in my opinion, not everything is what it appears to be." Inx appraised his torn clothing.

"So you say." He seemed to genuinely mean this.

"I've been kind of down with the times," Hogarth looked straight ahead as they rounded a bend in the hall. "Where are all the animals in the future? Doesn't anyone have a dog or cat or anything?"

Inx gave him an expressionless look over his shoulder. "There are still many wild animals that are conserved around the globe, Mr. Hughes. But no one has been allowed pets for a century now." He sighed when he sensed his charge wanted to know more. "We could no longer afford to feed the now wild-reverted canis lupus after the 8000 droid project failed, we could barely feed people."

"People ate their own dogs?" The notion was sickening to Hogarth, as they turned a corner there was a sight that made him pause. It was the Giant a ways away in the auditorium with a cluster of people around him including a tie-dye jumpsuit-wearing person in jeans. "Taylor." He said softly.

A group of official-looking people stood before them. "She is receiving her assigning now for her defiance." Inx gave the uneasy-looking Hogarth an assuring look. "It will not be harsh, if in fact a decree was added that a droid could be punished for rule-breaking then the Giant-." He cut off at Hogarth's swift, stolid state. "Inx, what happened to all the people who couldn't feed their dogs?"

The man breathed heavily and shook his head sadly. "The opposite of your first assumption." He and Hogarth continued down the corridor. "It is not all bad, however. With all forms leisure from your radio and television excluded from our daily lives, we are able to use extra time efficiently."

"I hate the 'T' word." Hogarth muttered to himself but gave Inx a respectful look. "It must take a lot to run this place." They stopped at a wide door. "So… I guess this means I'll face my friends."

"You will." Inx told him as the wall panel slid open; he looked back when Hogarth hesitated.

"It's okay." The young man said self-assuredly, rocking back on his heels as the elevator began to close. "I can wait for the set of automatic stairs." When Inx turned perplexed, Hogarth shook his head dismissively and boarded a few feet from him. "Say, Inx, since we seem to be getting along so famously and all. Could you be a pal and loosen up on these binds here?" he held his wrists up.

Inx gave him a tolerant look. "Not that famously." Hogarth shrugged. "Eh, it was worth a try." He noticed Inx place a couple of plugs in his nostrils. Concerned, the teen lifted his hirsute underarm.

"Pittsburgh is that bad, huh?"

"That city was destroyed by the original Iron Giant droids in the failed experiment, Hogarth."

_Me and my big yap..._

The dimly lit interior was suddenly exhilarated by the bright light from the auditorium, Inx and Hogarth stepped from the round outer wings to enter the meeting hub of the facilities. Some of the quorum was giving final statements to Taylor as the two men started walking toward them.

Hogarth walked ahead of Inx with a wide-eyed look at the opportunity of seeing his friends again, they had their backs turned to him but he managed to glance from the petite young woman to the towering, cylindrical robot. Both of them were unaware that he was there. Self-consciously, he let his gaze wander down his body and sighed deeply when Inx came up a few feet from behind him.

"You must confront the Council. But as for your friends...can you not confront them?"

"_If you won't move, I will go through you Giant!"_ The callous voice echoed in the trenches of his guilty conscious.

"I will," Hogarth looked up and said with quiet conviction as he turned around. "Just not now."

"Hey, look." A teenaged guy in a green suit whispered to his friend as they passed by. "It's that Garth guy. I heard he came from the past to collaborate with those ungrateful Omega people…"

"Look at how poorly he dresses," Another guy mentioned when Hogarth didn't turn to face them.

"Do you suppose he whiffs his own flatulence?" The first one snickered, his voice rising a bit.

Hogarth felt a streak of indignation cross him. "Hey!" he whirled on the two, stating in a pissed voice. "Twiddle-ding and Twiddle-dong, you have somethin' to say to Garth Hughes than you say it to his face and don't go acting like you're a couple of hot shots who flap their gums away."

Taylor glanced over at him.

"Oh, shit."

He felt a wave of relief when she faced forward again, but was left on the spot when she turned back his way with a surprised look. "Hogarth!" Everyone, the Council, passersby and the Giant turned to look at him while he was still in his accusing pose. He now had no choice but to face them all.

To be continued…


	23. Revival: Part 3 of 3

**A/N:** This chapter has a real angst kicker to it, be forewarned. And I mean, you'll either love or hate someone by the end of this chapter.

I.

A porcelain-skinned, brown-haired woman with a ripped pint green jumpsuit crawled her way over to the TTC (Thought Text Communicator) lying a few feet from her, after having followed after an illegally traveling Inx and Taylor Trina had been assigned by the World Affairs Council to watch over the orbs.

The twenty-six-year old peered over with mist-filled eyes at her deactivated droid 33, 346; it had taken a jab through the chest from her droid-mutated cousin Kina. She sniffled quietly at the fact that she had always taken the droid for granted. Even as _most _of the earth had ridden itself of technology for relaxation purposes there were people who still underappreciated advancements; and underestimated.

A whole vandal of outdated second model droids (The Reapers) had taken the fairly unguarded orbs.

Trina tried not to look at the emptied in ground spots where the orbs had been stolen from as she took the small grey device, and placed tiny head phones that looked as though they belonged to an Ipod on her temples. She closed her green-brown eyes and concentrated. _The orbs have been stolen._

The sounds of droid specialists' footsteps thundered the halls as Trina passed out, her last memories were shrouded in the terror that was factual. Kina had stolen the Giant's droids as they were in their final stages of developing and instead of cyborgs she was going to have an indestructible droid race of Iron Giants.

A balding man with a medium build approached the twenty-something woman, he made sure a soot-coated screw didn't bulge from his pocket and gathered Trina up in his arms. Daniel Barnes waited until the crew came before handing her to them. "I'd like to see Garth Hughes."

~_~_~_~

II.

Hogarth and his friends stood staring across the way at each other; these last eight months had changed them all in many ways and some changes not for the better. Hogarth, himself, knew that he had changed the most of them all. Gone was the mild-mannered, wannabe- Greaser sixteen-year-old. Right now with all eyes on him once again he felt more strange and alienated than he ever had even when he had been a little boy.

When his lost eyes fell to Taylor's she instantly zeroed in on him with a concerned, rather dutiful look. He was surprised to see her blushingly relieved smile and in turn felt one of his own starting. Taylor started to move his way when a grey hand went to gently hinder her path. Hogarth met the Giant's offended and mistrustful glare before turning away quickly so the robot wouldn't see the affect his look had on him. It was only so much Hogarth could do from spinning around and leaving, what kept him at bay were the remnants of his wounded pride. "It's all right, Giant." he heard Taylor insist in an even tone. "I want to go and see him."

Hogarth was astounded when she was granted a release and came up to stand thirty feet away. The two stared at each other before need filled her hazel eyes, and she sprinted his way while blurting his name achingly. Despite himself, Hogarth found that he was also staggered by his feelings at seeing her. "Taylor!"

The girl ran under his oddly secured bounds, which he lifted up, and pressed her small body to his chest with a great rush of happiness. "Oh, _Hogarth._" She said joyously. "I've missed you so much."

"I missed you too, baby." He said in an emotional voice, burying her face deeper with his chin over her head as the stinging of the slice wound lessened. The longing to hold the spunky, self-assertive girl from his last days in his own time and town overcame his desire to leave. "Every day of my life I missed you."

"God." Taylor whispered, trying to recover her bearings as she looked up.

"Here," Hogarth smiled without shame and held her at arms length. "Let me have a look at you." he turned endearing. "God, you're beautiful." A faint mist filled his blue eyes. Taylor looked away in embarrassment at his admission. "Hogarth..." she said with a shy grin. "No, I mean it." he quickened to say, turning her chin to meet his gaze as he said with honesty. "After living like a mole man for half a year, seeing you is like seeing Heaven."

They took a few moments to recover from their meeting before Hogarth turned more casually observant.

"Wow, you've really filled out." He said with an impressed head-to-toe survey of her, causing Taylor to fold her arms with a tolerant smirk. "Oh, and hey you've grown taller." Hogarth placed a hand over the girl's head to indicate her minor increase in height from 5'2 to 5'3. "Yeah, and you look..." She looked him over uneasily. He raised caterpillar fuzz eyebrows at her twice with an easy grin. Taylor squeezed at his fairly muscled bicep. "You look, uh…"

"Harrier?_" _Hogarth said for her finally, amused at her attempt to not say the obvious.

"Like a shag rug._" _

"Speaking of hair..._" _He fingered her now shortened dark blonde hair secured up in a bun. "I like it... Erika._"_

Taylor grew worried. "Does that bother you?_"_

"Considering my hairy track record, not in the least._" _Hogarth peered up at the awaiting Council, only giving the Giant a quick sweep. "You know what I have to do._" _he said seriously, Taylor nodded in understanding as she leaned up on her tip-toes to reach his height of six-foot-tall. "All right, be honest Taylor. The teeth or my breath?_" _Hogarth questioned, kidding. She looked down at her tie- die jumpsuit tucked stomach. "Neither._"_

They looked at each other and then over at a quiet Inx. "Hey, man. Thank you for helping take care of her._"_

"How did you...?_"_

"Trust me._" _Hogarth told him, turning to an exposed looking Taylor with an amorous look. "I feel the same way every time I look at her._" _She dipped her head as he pressed his chapped lips to her forehead, filling her small oval face with a cushion of brown-red beard. He winked at her as he started over accountably to face his fate. The Council gave one another intrigued looks; not many of the captured ones acted this compliable.

~_~_~_~

The Giant watched as Hogarth approached, he felt a bit more at ease with seeing him after his meeting with Taylor but that didn't mean things between the two of them were settled. It was good to see that Hogarth was well and yet seeing him was so conflicting. The Giant let his gaze roam briefly to the side and saw that the Council members who weren't jotting down notes on hand-held, self-facing hologram projectors stared pensively at Hogarth with their arms sternly crossed. A look to his right revealed that the others did this also.

Taking into account their position at having to deal with stubborn, disgruntled or even violent Omega D.C. adults, the Giant looked down with a feeling of self-righteousness at the approaching Hogarth. That's when he noticed his octangular arms were crossed as well. Slowly, and with concern about himself, the Giant unfolded his large limbs to his sides.

"Well," Hogarth looked up at him and commented passively. "I guess this is where you and everyone else back in the past were trying to keep me from ending up._" _He gave the rubbery adhesive bonds that others before him had been placed in a small tug; the Giant couldn't help but to also notice Hogarth's slinged arm with discomfort. "But, I never did think my hand manacles would be made of super tough tree sap." Neither truly knew what to say, and quite frankly the Council wasn't there to take an interest in their personal matters to begin with.

"You will answer questions ''yes'' or "no"," A tall man who harbored a work-filled life shown in his drooping wrinkles began indifferently toward Hogarth. "Any sign of deviance and you will be detained. Are we clear?"

Hogarth nodded his head in obligation, obviously not wanting to add anymore discredit to his reputation. The Giant kept his mandible closed as he watched them start their first round of questions with an interest to see what Hogarth would say, and with a great need to know if what they once shared was still there.

"You are Hogarth Hughes?"

His answer was surprisingly without sarcasm or attitude. "Yes sir."

"And you are affiliated with the traitors of the Omega suburbs that were once Washington D.C.?"

It was obvious Hogarth wanted to make a statement on that, but he only nodded begrudgingly. "Yes sir."

"What certain _privileged _activities based on your vitality to their futile mission did you perform?"

Although seemingly on opposing sides, both the Giant and he gave the man an uncertain look.

Hogarth drew his brows inward. "You said answer only yes or no-"

"A second offense in your already marked first offense for possible treason." A dowdy, middle-aged woman with puckered lips interrupted, marking something down. "Do not include a third offense by questioning us."

"I coordinated a lot of the younger boys' accommodations and stuff, kind of like a swamped camp counselor."

"And do you in effect admit to the aid in corruption of the minds of these children?"

"What?! No. You've gotta be kidding me. A lot of those boys looked up to me." Though there were some who seemed to anticipate Hogarth's reaction, a few were taken aback by his self-defending. "I'll tell you one thing right now, you can blame me and the others all you want. But those Omega children are not 'corrupt' in the least."

"We are quite aware of that young man." A thirty or forty something man barked prudently. "Our goal is now to protect these children. Their parents chose to live apart from the Alpha D.C. scientists who only wished to compensate for the failed atmosphere trial droid disaster." he didn't bother looking up at the Giant as a few did. An attractive, but of course overworked, young redhead jumped in. "That is right. We are just now seeing that these illiterate and improvised children need us, you needn't think we place blame on them. Do you understand?"

"Of course," Hogarth agreed with her, compassion rising in his voice as he tried to reason with the deciders of his fate. "There are whole families who need you and helping kids in other places isn't something new. In my century we did it all the time, its called charity." he seemed to be irritating the eldest of the group while winning some of the younger ones over.

"Can you not see what he is doing?" The man with face bags quickened to remind them bitterly. "He is trying to accomplish what the former promising scientist Kina once did before we allowed her to voyage to the past, this young man is trying to coax us into his mindset through a game of false passion. Let us not be mislead!"

Hogarth scoffed in disbelief. "Sir, I really do care about-"

"One more statement and you will never have the chance to go nigh your own time!" He blistered, the other members followed suit and said no more --- including the Giant who still couldn't find much to say either way.

"Archer?" Hogarth turned to the man standing over on the sidelines in silence; all attention went towards him as the young man singled him out appealingly. "You're the first guy who made any sense that day in the city when it was still around, remember? When you answered the Giant's questions about where he came from."

"These are different times now, Hogarth." He said in a patient voice. There was nothing he could do.

"And how dare you turn your case to someone outside this assessment!" The head-of-Council accused as if Hogarth had committed a serious offense. "Do you not have any remorse for the man who has lost his only beloved daughter in that horrible takeover?" His aggressive nitpicks began to work: Hogarth began becoming more and more plaintive. "All you cared about was returning home to your time, do not think for a moment we did not keep track upon the Omegas reemergence yesterday. You claim to care but you only care for yourself. "

"Don't I get a lawyer or something!?" Hogarth snapped in frustration, completely alone in his defense.

"Let us conclude that you are in fact partially to blame for the young Alpha men and women who have been injured trying to halt you and the Omegas from altering the past." He continued with no regard for what was going on with Hogarth. The Giant lowered his front shutters at this._ Hogarth was nowhere near them when they held off the others_. "And in the heart wrenching process of it all, many of them have probably lost their-"

"Hogarth." The Giant spoke suddenly in his bass voice, bending down from his enormous height.

Everyone turned at the intervention.

~_~_~_~

When he did this, Hogarth couldn't take it anymore. He could face all of the false allegations, but he found he just couldn't bear to face the one whose opinion mattered most to him. The young man turned away and was bracing them to sentence him a third and final time when he heard the Giant entreat after him. "Please wait."

Hogarth sighed deeply and turned with the absurd thought of an iron fist transforming him into pound cake.

The Giant instead asked a very out-of-place question. "How's your arm doing?"

He blinked twice and asked stupidly. "My what?"

His suspended arm was given a gentle under nudge with the Giant's finger. Hogarth became more at ease.

"Well, it's still a little stiff. But it looks like they got it to where it will mend up good as new."

The Giant nodded his Astrodome-shaped head with satisfaction. "That's good."

Hogarth stood a little straighter as he looked the crouching robot over. "Whoa, your scorch marks are gone."

"Hmm?" He looked down at himself and back up in remembrance. "Oh, right. After I faced the Motorix back in the city, they used the buildings to give me a new coat of metal." Hogarth turned very surprised at this. "You faced down Trant's chrome dome rip-off?" The Giant didn't so much as swerve his white gaze; the reason for departure in the city had been so that the first Motorix was diverted. "My weapons exploded inside of me." He said as the pain lingered.

Hogarth looked away in guilt. "We should have never split up like that. The way I just left you and Taylor..."

"You did what you thought was right." The iron automaton sympathized, recalling what Archer had told him.

"Still..." Hogarth took a breath and gestured at the Giant with a bonded hand. "All things considered, I think it looks great on you." He complimented. "Thanks, and you look..." The Giant trailed off causing Hogarth to give his head a dismissive shake. "Just say it, Giant." he sighed lightly. "What? I was planning on saying healthier."

"But you were thinking something else." Hogarth told him with a knowing look, tugging at his burly facial hair.

"Maybe." The Giant said with an edge of humor.

"And hey, thank you for back there." He referred to his near finality with Kina.

"It's no more then what you did for me once." A deeply thankful smile moved across Hogarth's bearded face; The Giant lifted his lower lids in return.

"Absolute rubbish!" Someone snapped the two out of their reunion. "I have heard all I wish to hear from you concerning this person's trial," he thrust a finger at the Giant and gave Hogarth a penetrating look. "If there is one thing I cannot stand to see, it is a human being confiding in a 500,000 ton piece of machinery and not another of his own kind. As impressive as 7000 is…"

"Giant." The robot said softly.

Archer suddenly gave a guttural warning before Hogarth could fling a retort in his defense.

"I'll keep quiet." The Giant turned resigned white eyes back to him. "It's for the best."

Hogarth seethed through clenched teeth, but saw some of the officials share unsure looks.

"What can you tell us about Kina Gungatung's plans?" The red-haired woman from before asked.

"Her last name is Flungadung?" He asked without trying to be humorous and felt bad for having made the comment when he saw Archer wince. "I never knew what she was up to until the end of our ride here, but Ooga ---ugh --- Kina has made it pretty clear that she wants a race of cyborgs."

"Cyborgs?" The Giant asked him.

"Half robot, half human." Hogarth explained with hand gestures, the concept was interesting but undesirable. Most of the men and women began chattering frantically at once. "But she doesn't have the Giant's orbs, does she?" he asked them. The Giant shook his in response. "Good news."

"And how can we accept what you say to be the truth?" The leader hammered Hogarth again, he sensed Taylor and that Inx guy from before approaching behind. "We pride ourselves on integrity and virtue." Lead-of-Council told him, sounding pharisaical. "It aids in our detecting hypocrites."

"What?" Hogarth said in confusion. "And virtue and integrity are the same frigging things."

"You say you care for others," The man gestured for the Giant to turn away; he didn't. "Including this droid. But how can this be when you directed this upon 7000." He held up the crunched, iced remnants of the brown electrode gun. Taylor let out a gasp and the Giant placed his fingers to his crest-ridged forehead. "Taylor," Hogarth faced her ruefully. "I wasn't in my right state of mind."

He saw her take a step back from him and faced forward again. "If this is the case, why should we take what you say to be the truth about these cyborgs?" The lead Council asked again. Hogarth let his head fall in defeat. "You shouldn't." he looked up when Taylor appeared to seize his left arm.

"You _should_." She defended him. "Garth is rough around the edges, but he would never lie about something important like this." Hogarth felt stunned. The Giant then moved away from standing beside them to go behind Hogarth, resting two of his fingers on the young man's right shoulder as he went down on one knee. "And even if he did, it would only be to protect those he cares about."

Their loyalty even at this admission gave him peace, he looked up confidently and gave Taylor's hand a squeeze; she didn't return it back. "Especially these three guys," Hogarth added over to a slightly reluctant Inx coming up beside Taylor. "Any friend of theirs is part of this Dream Team."

Taylor and the Giant exchanged bemused, just-go-with-the-flow looks at Hogarth's quip.

"Martukus," One of the Council members turned to baggy-wrinkle man. "I have received a TTC from the Trina Gitano's sector down in the basement," he said in an aggrieved voice as he looked over to Archer. "It appears you will need to contact your brother as she is in a critical condition."

"What of the orbs?" Martukus asked sternly.

"According to my readings, they are extracted." The red-haired woman informed him. "We will need to contact the main base to warn others of the impending danger. Jahn, do you have a lock?"

"Yes." A thin man with blonde hair punched some things on his hand-held hologram. "It appears that the tracking chip in Gungatung is still active, and the orbs are developing mid-way between here and the former United States. Archer, can the Alpha scientists reprogram the two Iron Giant copies and Trant Mansley's version to possibly halt them?" The pressured man nodded, but didn't look reassuring. "But unlike the Giant here, those are programmed under very directorial orders."

They waited for him to continue.

"It will take some of our finest ops team from different sectors to re-program them, which should not be too difficult now that they are hibernating outside without much of a purpose at this time."

"And of the other developing copies?" Martukus abruptly inserted. "We have so few days."

"We must have more expert droid operators to try and re-program them using all droids who are companion or otherwise." Red-haired Council woman said. "I and Jahn will contact all remaining continents around the globe in request for more volunteers and droids." She said this to Martukus.

He nodded in consent.

"Knowing my daughter, she will be in the lead." Archer walked around behind the Council and to the side to stare up with his crippled hands locking wrists behind his back; he swept musing green eyes across the ceiling-sided window panels. "There will need to be someone to intercept Kina."

"I'll go." The Giant declared soberly.

Hogarth stepped around to face the wasp-waisted robot, looked up with determined blue eyes and said very surely. "This time I want to follow you." It was a gem of a chance to redeem himself to everyone. The Giant lowered his white eyes on him in surprise. Taylor gave an incredulous scoff.

"Hogarth, you aren't in any condition go anywhere. I mean," she ingeminated. "You look rough."

"That is right Hogarth Hughes," Martukus turned to him from the commotion that was going on as some left to make arrangements, and some chattered with others over communicators. "And it would be the last thing we would allow. If you return to your present at all, it shall be after this."

He furrowed his brow and turned up to meet the Giant's agreeing gaze. "You can't go, Hogarth."

This lit the short-tempered fuse of his patience; Hogarth's bearded face worked itself into a fury-lined scowl as he shot out words of mind-bending fate. "If you think I'm going to let you go on another damn **suicide** mission like back in Rockwell, you're wrong! Dead wrong, Iron Giant…"

Taylor was in his face in one second. "Suicide, Hogarth?! That's what you call what he did." she repeated in fuming disbelief, he took a few steps back. "Self-sacrifice, my mistake." He defended himself stubbornly. The young lady did not back down. "You're damn right it was self-sacrifice!"

"Hogarth…" The Giant tried to reason with him levelly.

"Keep out of this!" He whirled on the iron automaton. "Hogarth, if you speak to the Giant in that tone than you speak to me that way too." She demanded hotly. Hogarth glared at her indignantly. "Just what I'd expect a free-loving, feministic female to say." He muttered. Her face flushed over.

"Excuse me?!" Taylor challenged raucously. The Council was too immersed to notice. When he looked at her again, Hogarth's eyes locked on to the purity ring on her finger and the need to let out his long-harbored anger overwhelmed him. "You heard me, slut!" he single-handedly pushed her breasts. There was a breath-taking pause and Taylor became mortified, she covered her eyes.

All hell broke loose. "Hogarth, STOP!" The Giant demanded in out-right intolerance, ramming a fist into the metal floor that caused a series of vibrations that knocked some down. Others looked at each other very uneasily and took off for fear the robot would strike again. Hogarth tossed him a defiant look as Inx grabbed his shirt collar, yanked him around and reared back his balled hand.

Hogarth raised his as well, but in that split-second saw Inx had much slimmer arms and lowered his arm as he knew he would cause more damage. "Inx stop." Taylor said quickly, both of them and the Giant gave her quizzical looks. "I hate pain for pain." She averted her eyes from Hogarth.

The Giant thrust a finger inches before his face. "You _never, ever_ touch a woman there."

Realization befell him. "Taylor, I-I didn't mean to…"

"Save it, Garth." The young woman snapped in a hush as she still wouldn't meet his eyes.

He swallowed hard but quietly as Archer, Inx, the remaining Council and the Giant glared at him angrily. Hogarth wrinkled his nose and waved a dismissive hand at them. "Good, I'm outta here."

"Young man," Archer tried to follow him. "Your verbal abuse is of the utmost disgrace."

"Stuff a sock in it, Daddy-o. I'm not feelin' the vibes on this scene anymore. You dig."

This made the man pause. "In translation…?" Hogarth stuck his middle finger out at him. Archer took a deep, calming breath and motioned for his wandering blue droid to approach him. As the sixty-something man transmuted it into a floating craft, the Giant moved shutter in closed eyes on Taylor. "A slut?" He asked carefully, not wanting to upset her further. Taylor looked at him, willful.

~_~_~_~

She felt a stab of sadness through her chest. "That's someone who has sex inappropriately." Inx came up to place his arms around her shoulders --- only he and Taylor knew what she had done to Hogarth to save him. "So he knows the screws and the bolts now, real groovy!" he tossed over his shoulder at them. The Giant ignored the comment as he knelt down and looked at Inx. "Suicide?"

The man started to explain when Taylor covered his mouth. "Giant, what you did for Rockwell was self-sacrifice which is selflessly giving your life for others." He nodded slowly. She ran her hand through her hair bun. "What did Hogarth mean when he said I did a suicide mission, Taylor?"

_How can Hogarth be so ungrateful? He can call me a slut, but the Giant_…

"Taylor, please tell me." He persisted in a calm voice.

She met his eyes and folded her arms. "Suicide, Giant, is when you kill yourself. It's a completely selfish act people commit when they don't want to live anymore." A silence before the storm cast over the auditorium flooded the atmosphere, the Giant turned enlarged, reality-blurred white eyes on Hogarth. Taylor could see that this was too much even for him. "Giant…" she tried calmingly.

"_Hogarth_!"

Those closets to the fifty-foot-tall robot had to cover their ears or risk going deaf at such decibels. The Giant's enraged tone was so booming and piercing that he broke the sound barrier, causing a great number of solicitors to high-tail it from wherever they were in the area. All members of the Council stood in a huddling, back-to-back ring, Inx stared up with a look of terror at such a fierce show of emotion and even Taylor backed away from him. Every last window panel was shattered.

He scooped the shaken-looking girl up in his hand and made a floor-rattling advancement toward Hogarth, every last inch of the teleported medical facilities rumbled violently underneath his feet.

~_~_~_~

Hogarth froze in his tracks a moment; not out of fear of what the Giant might do but out of sheer shame and regret for his hurtful words and actions. He felt his eyes moisten a bit as he broke out into an all out hurtle for the closed doorway. Suddenly, Archer appeared before him in his droid.

In a reverting flash of red, the modern-looking blue droid was behind him. Hogarth took a single step back as a pair of iron-clad legs stopped two feet from him; the Giant had taken seven stomps to stand behind him. He now sat a lip-pursing, arm-crossed Taylor down to stand beside his feet.

"Move it, Crotcher." Hogarth seethed, staring the man squarely in the eye.

"I have stood against my own flesh and blood's betrayal," Archer raised his crooked fingers and brought them together in clenched fists, the younger man watched as he folded his arms painfully before looking away. "If I can do that, I can stand against a sharp-tongued, bull-headed juvenile."

"Hogarth." Taylor said abruptly. "He's right. If you really mean those things, then turn around and say them to our faces."

He squeezed his knuckles until they were white. "Move it!" Hogarth tried to advance on him, but the blue droid caught his shirt and thrust him back. "Your intimidations and vulgarity are giving you a wasteful image." Archer told him patiently. Hogarth only blistered. "Talk to me normally."

"I am trying…" The elder man said wearily.

"Well, you are failing."

"Hogarth." The Giant said in a low, highly antagonized voice. He was getting very tired of the teenager's drama.

"Please move." Hogarth lowered his head. When he didn't sense a movement from Archer, he let out a grunt of frustration and rushed away from the three. "There has got to be a way out of here."

"All passages to the outside are sealed off." Archer informed him flatly, not bothering to turn his way. "The Omega D.C. children will be coming in soon to congregate, but you are on lockdown."

Hogarth slumped against the metal wall, now noticing that the gooey irons around his hands were gone. "Hogarth," Taylor said in her even voice. "Were not giving up on you," she became gentler in tone. "I'm never giving up on you." He slowly turned to face her when the distant noise of kids chattering came. They all watched as the children in purple moved around, some eyed the Giant in a cautious way while others waved over at Hogarth; his eyes met with Tress's resentful ones.

The boy looked from the Giant and then back to Hogarth before holding up the Superman comic book. Tears trickled down his cheeks as he tore the tattered magazine in half, and then escaped to the middle of the group. The Giant turned listless eyes to him. "Do you remember what it meant to be like him and have dreams, Hogarth?" his tone turned somewhat embittered. "Or had them."

That's when Hogarth realized he had gone against everything he had taught the Giant years ago, a great sorrow griped him and he broke the cast of his slung arm. In a fit of tremendous self-blame, Hogarth began beating his fists angrily into the metal wall causing the Giant to scoot Taylor back.

"Hogarth, stop!" She cried frantically.

"Yow!" He said in pain as his arm began to ache, he slipped it back into his rubbery sling before sliding down with his back against the wall. "Damn it." Hogarth covered his face with his hand.

"I hope you're done." Taylor said as she carefully approached him.

"Leave me alone, Taylor."

"No, Hogarth." The Giant's hand followed close behind as she moved over to him. "I won't, all you've been is left alone and look how downhill it's gotten you." She knelt down to his level. "I don't deserve you guys." Hogarth told her quietly. Taylor grasped his good hand and squeezed it.

He looked up at her with hollow-looking azure eyes.

"I don't agree with that but whether you feel you deserve us or not, you still need us." Hogarth let her continue without interruption. "Hogarth, remember that first night you faced down Gordon?"

"How can I forget? It was the first time I saw the Giant again."

Taylor stayed a tenacious distance, but said meaningfully. "Hogarth, I remember how you got in between me and him to try and talk him down. That's something a real man would do." Her hazel eyes grew more uncomfortable. "But, Hun, when you pulled out that knife you sank to his level."

"I appreciate you trying," he sighed as he traced his whisker-ringed face before shutting his eyes, and letting his head fall slightly. "But let's face it Taylor, I'm pretty much a lost cause as it is…"

"Hogarth McCoppin-Hughes!" She snapped intolerantly and yanked up his burnt-sienna colored beard to face her. "Look up, shut up-." Taylor buttoned his opening lips. "Stand up and listen up."

He was pulled to his feet. Taylor kept a stringent eye-contact with him another moment before a rush of emotion captured her oval face, and she caught him around the waist. "Oh, Hogarth. We love you. Don't you know that? No matter what you say or do…" He became off-guard at this.

The Giant cupped his back with his hand. Hogarth peered up at him and saw the gentle sincerity in his ivory eyes, his upper shutters lowered. All tension and bad-blood melted away as Hogarth wrapped his only free arm around the Giant's thumb which carefully in closed Taylor's back, he smiled warmly as he said. "I love you guys too." His display of insensitivity brought him to light.

"Giant," Hogarth turned to look up at him again and said wholeheartedly. "I am truly sorry for the word I used in place of your sacrifice, I never meant it." The Giant nodded re-acceptingly. "I know."

"Archer," he turned toward the older man, a little ill at ease. "Sorry for the Daddy-o and anal crack."

The man nodded with a small smile. "Apology accepted."

Finally he turned to Taylor who he felt sorriest of all towards. "Taylor."

"Hogarth." She said abruptly.

"Yes?" He spoke softly.

Taylor turned with a relaxed smile at him. "How do you feel right now?"

"Like I'm the most fortunate guy in the world."

To be continued...


	24. Keeper of fates

I.

December 11th 1964…

_Tell my mother, tell my father  
I've done the best I can  
To make them realize  
This is my life  
I hope they understand._

_This is my chance._

_Here is my chance._

-Shinedown.

The early morning of day stretched out across the ceiling window panels of the **Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport** as Dean, Julianne, Gordon and his mother were having breakfast in a small café' outside their terminal. Sipping down his last few drops of espresso, the thirty-eight-year-old man gave his daughter a fond look across the table.

"Everything all right, baby?" he asked her as he leaned forward and gave her pencil-thin arm a pat. The child looked up and attempted a reassuring smile. "I'm just fine, Daddy."

"Eat your hotcakes, Peaches." Gordon encouraged as he drowned his leaning stack with a generous coat of syrup. His mother Bethany sent him a disapproving look. "I'll be darned if I ever understand you, Gord Rhinestien. You ain't even on the football team anymore."

"You should give him a break," Dean mentioned with his arm slung over the back of the chair, he was in a relaxed mood for the first time in months and forgetting for a moment that his wife and step-son weren't there. "Pancakes are addictive for guys about his age."

The round-faced woman scowled at him. "You'd be best to mind your own business."

He sighed at this and sat up straight. "I'm sorry; it's just… been stressful." Dean offered mother and son a kind smile. "I can't ever thank you or the town enough for all of this."

Her response was a slight frown and a stiff nod.

"It's still early." Gordon chuckled apologetically, syrup trickling down his chubby jowls.

The napkin holder fell sideways as he reached for one. Dean rolled his sleeves up before stretching an arm across the syrup-streaked table to tip it upright; while Bethany sighed in exasperation and reached for a bottle of homemade cleaner in her oversized purse. When they both reached out simultaneously, Dean took notice. "Did you mix that up yourself?"

"Why, yes," Bethany touched her lips, modestly flattered. "A well-kept family secret."

Gordon wiped his mouth with a knowing look and leaned across the way. "Water with a little baking soda." He whispered to Julianne; she suppressed a giggle. Miss Rhinestien began on enthusiastically about her self-sufficient house-cleaning as airliners _vroomed_ in.

Dean nodded politely, an interest evident in his deep brown eyes as he stroked his chin. "I see. Yeah. Annie use to use something similar to that." He suddenly became aware of his daughter's face drop. The little girl lowered her head. "Julies, pumpkin, why so quiet…?"

She looked up at him with watery blue eyes. "Daddy, if you and Miss Rhinestone become married does that mean she's my new mama and Apple's is my new brother?" Inevitably an awkward silence ensued. "I just need to know so I can tell Hogarth when he's back."

No one knew what to say.

II.

December 11th 2201…

The North Atlantic Ocean…

There were rows upon rows, hundreds upon hundreds of wasp-waisted, crested, fifty-foot-tall robots of fairly identical, cylindrically octagonal design that formed a massive formation across the murky depths of the contaminated sea. They were all transfiguring into existence in a radiating yellow sequence that overlapped ten Giant clones at a time.

The robot army's afterburners heated the bottoms of their iron soles keeping them adrift.

At the very front with the sea's smelling, salty fumes wafting in the breeze at their backs; Sergey Dimelo's right hand man James Rhinestien and Archer's droid-mutilated daughter Kina stood watching as the very gradual process was nearing mid-way in it's completion.

"How long you figure this'll take 'fore we can get these clones back to Maine in 1964?"

"Calculating the fact that the droids' programming will need time to adjust to life, we've estimated a prediction of five days, four nights, eighteen hours and sixty-five minutes Mr. Rhinestien." The gild-plated side of Kina's face communicated in its feminine automated voice. "In the meantime, those just developing will need to have a source of metal food."

"What 'bout the ones that'll develop last?" The outlaw commented.

"They will have more then enough metal once we reach our destination."

As if on cue, a deep, resonant gurgle erupted from the ironed minions. This caused James Rhinestien to tip his suede cowboy hat up and squint at the many rows of white-brimmed eyes; their lantern optics like blank slates waiting to be impressed upon. The gurgling of the Iron Giant copies stomachs grew together in a deeply off-pitch swooshing noise that held a sort of growling, ravenous quality not unlike that of a pride of half-starved lions.

"What metal will they eat?" James Rhinestien asked a bit unsurely, he turned to look at the half-robot, half-woman. When he did he saw that the Sergey's Dimelo's great-great granddaughter had tears streaming down her angular cheek. He stifled a gasp when the droid held a thorny finger up against Kina's long neck while it glared sideways at him.

"You both chose this life." It's green eye traveled back and forth to them. "There will be no second guessing or second chances." James felt sheer fear course through his veins; it had a mind of it's own and the girl was not in control. He pulled out the thin taser rod that could be used to kill people and deactivate droids. The man was a second from running it through the creature's cranium, when he received a direct high back kick up to his neck.

There was a snap and his spinal cord was unaligned.

Kina held her breath as the creature stroked it's pointed index finger down her neck, there was a drop of concentrated blood on it that she raised before the girl's wide light jade eye before explaining. "Seas will be filled when the hue of red before this will all end, Kina."

"I never intended such salvage fate." Kina said shakily.

Her face contorted more in the center as the gilded face spread over her ivory visage; she gave a frightened whimper as it knitted into her skin. "You should have considered that earlier. I will keep you around until your worthless human needs vanquish you entirely."

The question as to what the blank-minded, morally unsound Iron Giant clones would eat became solved as Kina's droid self held up it's long hand. Kina watched in horror as they began to mercilessly rip one another's limbs off and gnaw on them to satisfy their hunger.

"The last ones to develop will be the ones who proceed with me after you are gone."

Kina willingly allowed herself to go limp; she would never get her second chance.

III.

Hogarth's fate back in Iceland…

The Giant developed a bit of an interested look as he thumbed Hogarth on the chin, the teen looked up at him perplexedly. "What was that for?" He asked at the unusual gesture.

His robotic friend's response was to shrug with an innocent "Mm-mm". Hogarth gave him a suspicious look before stepping over. "Challenging my manhood, eh? Oh, it's on!"

He climbed up on the Giant's offered hand and flexed the fingers of his right hand. This left Taylor in the dark as she folded her arms. "Hogarth, just what're you going to do?" the girl asked him. He gave Taylor a confident grin before placing his hand to his chest.

"Thumb and arm wrestling. I call it, thram wrestling." She shook her head incredulously.

"'Thram' wrestling?" Hogarth nodded at this semi-seriously and raised his hand. "All in favor?" The Giant humored him by raising his. "All opposed?" Taylor raised both hands.

"Sorry, that's cheating." Hogarth laughed a little before flexing his bicep. "As you guys may or may not have noticed I've been keeping in shape." Taylor smiled slyly; recalling seeing Hogarth from head-to-toe. "Oh, I've noticed." She said to herself with deep desire.

"What was that?" He lifted a brow her way. That's when the heaviness of her violation of him reclaimed Taylor. "Um, nothing." She looked away from the two. Hogarth grew a bit concerned for her but turned to grasp the Giant's right thumb with his right hand. "Okay, Giant. No holding back. Give me your all." He challenged. The Giant brought his shutters together competitively and nodded. Hogarth nodded back before pressing into the thumb.

It didn't take long to see who had the upper digit. Taylor and the Giant watched without a real knowledge of what to say as Hogarth tried to wretch the light grey appendage down into the palm of the Giant's hand. "Hogarth, stop. You're going to strain your other arm."

"Just…warming…_up._ I use to wrestle all the time with the kids from my sector." He gave the Giant a curious look as he swung himself under the bent thumb. "You are giving it your all, right?" The robot nodded before suggesting. "Maybe Taylor's right, Hogarth…"

He tried heedlessly for another minute before eventually wrapping his legs around it and trying desperately to yank it forward; it remained utterly stationary. The Giant became a bit perplexed at how to tell Hogarth he wasn't going to win; he finally looked to Taylor who met his eyes with withering consideration. The Giant gave a weary breath before he used his finger tips to sweep Hogarth at his back ankles in order to send him to his back.

Taylor strolled up and smiled down amusedly at Hogarth from upside down as the Giant placed a gentle thumb on his chest, acting as referee. "You lose in five, four, three, two-."

"Hey look!" Hogarth thrust a finger up at nothing. "Sputnik." The two of them became momentarily distracted, when they looked back he was lying on the thumb and flashing them a wide smile. "False alarm." Taylor placed her hand on her hip. "That's cheating."

"I like to call it innovative improvisation." He slid his hand behind his head. "Right Giant?"

"Hmm…cheating."

Hogarth sent him a dubious look and rolled off the Giant's thumb to his feet. "Well," he brushed his bare arms off, pulling at his sweaty T-shirt as he said nonchalantly. "I see you both have gotten close." Taylor frowned at his tone of voice. "Why? Is that a bad thing?"

"Nah," Hogarth waved at her dismissively. "I love being the odd-man-out, a third wheel on the Achilles heel of rejection." He chuckled at their worried looks. "Guys, I'm fine. I dig that your friends and all, really." That's when he saw their concern was more serious.

"Once the Council comes back, they won't let you get off easily." Taylor reminded him.

"I know." Hogarth came more around to face them fully. The Giant stood all the way up and Taylor backed up to stand beside him. "Taylor, Giant, I know it's going to take me a long time to get your trusts back and I'm willing to do what it takes to make it up to you."

The two looked sideways at each other and Taylor developed a twinkle in her eye.

"What_ever_ it takes?" The Giant emphasized, his hands on his circular disked hips.

"Yes."

Taylor tapped at her chin. "Three things." She said promptly as she held up her fingers.

Hogarth boldly removed his arm from its sling and folded them. "Let me hear then."

"Firstly," Earnestness filled her voice. "You need to stop this whole woeful self-pity of yours." He tugged at his beard in question. "You need to stop feeling sorry for yourself."

Hogarth nodded compliantly. "Can do."

"Next, you need a shower and a shave." Taylor said as she squeezed her upturned nose.

"And maybe new clothes while you're at it." The Giant added, wanting to get caught up with the two. "But that's just my suggestion." He chuckled. "I don't even wear clothes."

"So you won't mind my keeping the jacket?" Hogarth pulled it off his shoulder and held it out in his hands. They both gave him insistent looks causing him to sigh. "I wouldn't give this away for just anyone, but for both you guys." He smiled to himself. "You bet."

"Lastly, you have to stop beating yourself up over everything you can't change." Taylor told him gently. He met her eyes unsurely. "I don't beat myself up." She gave him more of a direct look. "Not always. When you don't use yourself you use those you care for."

Hogarth stepped forward and placed a tentative hand on her shoulder, looking her square in the eyes. "I am very sorry for that, Taylor." He said sincerely. She looked down at her feet; not wanting Hogarth to see that his earlier accusation was not in the least bit untrue.

Fortunately the Giant intervened. "If you want us to forgive you, then first you have to forgive yourself Hogarth." The young man stepped back and tilted his head some so that he could talk with both of them. "Come on, you know I was always on your guys' side."

Taylor and the Giant exchanged bewildered looks.

"Okay," Hogarth admitted hastily. "Maybe not physically or mentally or, you know, for a while emotionally." He breathed to recover before touching his heart. "But right in here."

"In spirit?" Taylor smiled slightly.

"Yep, right where the soul is." Hogarth nodded and noticed some of the young Omega children had stopped to look his way. "And you know, God's always been on my side."

"God?" The Giant inquired him. He was given a disbelieving look. "You've never heard of God?" Hogarth said. Archer called over to explain that sharing his beliefs might not be a great idea since his fate was undecided. The kids all began congregating closer to them.

"Then now is the perfect time." Hogarth concluded but stroked his beard for a moment to claim some inspiration. "I've heard of him," The Giant mentioned. "Just not about him."

By now many purple-suited children had bypassed their fear of the iron automaton; all of them kept a distance as they sat down cross-legged. This encouraged Hogarth further and he sat down as well. "Well, God is considered the greatest being in the universe. Because He created it and He's the one who made us; our bodies, minds, souls and the Earth too."

"Hogarth," Taylor began understandingly. "I know you just want to bring hope, but these kids haven't been raised like us." She eyed them but they weren't paying her mind. "I just think you should listen to Archer and-whoooa!" The Giant scooped her up and went into a cross-legged position as well, his fingers curled under his iron under bite as he listened.

"Well, cover your ears than Miss Evans." Hogarth laughed good-naturedly. "Okay, to put it more plainly, God is sort of like the sun. It's the biggest star in our galaxy, like God is a big soul or entity." He encircled the sun from the broken window panels with his hand as droid cleaners swept up the glass. "And our souls are like the stars that surround the sun."

Tress came up near the Giant's hand and pulled himself up beside a resigned and slightly intrigued Taylor. What Hogarth and the others enraptured by his story didn't notice was a lankily tall woman with grey-streaked black hair pulled tightly in a bun stepping around the many, many children. She was accompanied by Daniel Barnes in his pin-striped suit.

Hogarth went on without interruption or seeing them on the sidelines as Archer came up to shake her hand; at least not while looking directly. "Our stars have to believe in the sun because it does provide us with life." He kept from looking at the three adults as he gave his important message to the children solemnly. "That's why you need to believe in Him."

"What happens if you don't?" The Giant asked a bit uneasily, also noticing the children who wore wondrous looks on their little, eager faces. Hogarth looked at his charges very compassionately, but gravely. "The stars inside of you will turn into black holes." He told them. "No stars are born evil, but a star without faith will have its light changed to dark."

"I love these Astronomy analogies." Taylor rolled her hazel eyes and smiled tolerantly as she said jokingly. "So are the planets angels, Hogarth?" He smiled back at her with equal tolerance but said to her firmly. "If you want them to be, Taylor." He and the Giant met eyes; the last time they had spoken about this the Giant had misinterpreted stars as being souls.

"Stars are like souls." The robot reiterated, confidence sparking in his white eyes.

Hogarth nodded gladly now that he accepted his faith again. "But you can't see those stars."

"Excuse me," A patient woman dignitary spoke, she approached in a white jumpsuit with a plain black cloak although nothing about her matched. "I do mean to impose myself on your lecturing." She motioned for the children to go about their business. They looked at each other and then at Hogarth who nodded. He, the Giant and Taylor stood up together.

"Mr. Barnes," Hogarth rubbed the back of his neck. "Never did get that report done."

Daniel sent him an unamused look.

"How did you get through this time period?" Taylor questioned him. "And my uncle…"

"This isn't about you right now, Miss Evans." He motioned at the tall woman in between him and Archer. "Hogarth, Iron Giant, this is Tabba Galling. She acts as ambassador and as well as the geographical resource advisor and coordinator of all Iceland's continents."

"Right," Hogarth added with a little interest, relieved she wasn't some Icelandic empress there to decide his fate. "If it's still that way in 2201, Iceland's got some great resources."

The Giant brought his shutters together; not the way Archer had put it. He and the woman shared a look before she began addressing him. "I've heard many things about you, Iron Giant. And you as well, Mr. Hogarth Hughes." He nodded and folded his arms, beginning to sense something amiss as she continued on to the Giant. "Why I am here is concerning your once inhabiting this ice burg two-hundred and fifty one years ago for several years."

"I never considered it mine." The Giant told her modestly. "It's just where I ended up."

Tabba's thin lips curled slightly at the sides. "You have no reason to think this. There are many who live in Iceland and across the globe who wish to use you against your will for no more then an energy fuel." Hogarth, Taylor and the Giant exchanged looks as she held up a computer hologram. "Then, there are those who seek to petition your freedom."

His white eyes widened as she scrolled down a long list of Ominish signatures. "So, do you own this ice burg?" he tried not to sound too taken aback. "No," Tabba slid it into her pocket and put on a blank expression. "It is a world-wide and great moral standard that the oldest and most contributing of an area of land should retain full proprietorship of it."

The Giant looked at her in confusion. "I'm sorry, but what are you trying to say?"

"Since you are technically the oldest per-err- being who once lived here and taking into account your reportedly free-will services to mankind, it has been decided that you have full ownership over this entire land." There was a pause so people could think about this.

"In addition, I and the World Affairs Council would like to extend exclusive rights to you, Iron Giant, as the first and for now only droid of human citizenship for this area. This will of course account for different places in the world." The Giant was speechless.

"You mean the Giant is considered a citizen now!" Hogarth exclaimed, breath-taken.

"That's excellent!" Taylor turned to look up at the iron automation. "_See_," she told him. "Given time it was bound to happen. Change can be good." He considered this awesome position for a moment before saying. "Thank you, but no thank you." The Giant was met with skeptical stares. "Ma'am, it's just that if I return to my own time that won't matter."

"For the time being, it does." Archer insisted to him. "You will need this status if you are to move freely through the rest of the world. Before you returned here, the knowledge of your whereabouts was only in Alpha D.C. and Honolulu. It's now an international story."

"This is some very groovy news and all," Hogarth interjected. "But why am I getting this has something to do with me?" Daniel looked at him evenly. "You'd be right about that."

Tabba looked at the ragged-looking young man and lifted a piqued brow. "Considering a droid equal to us before anything was passed, using our transportation tubes as a race car track and developing an alliance with the first rebellion force for centuries… Whether it has been directly or indirectly, you have surmounted quite a role of infamy Mr. Hughes."

Hogarth didn't try to cover up with humor. "I'd just like to know where I'm headed."

"We have discussed this with the Council." Archer explained and waited for Daniel to speak. "And we decided that it wouldn't be appropriate to make this decision since you and I are not from this time period." He sighed heavily and waited for Tabba to take over.

"It is mandated that anyone who threatens or initiates any bodily harm toward someone else will be met with the owner and/or owners of that land." She spoke and held out a shard of brown metal from what Hogarth very sickeningly remembered what was one of three electricity generating guns that Kina had provided to him and Trant mere days ago.

"You can't keep pitting all the blame on him." Taylor argued in his defense.

"We aren't." Daniel said to her discreetly. "If I remember correctly, Erika, you were not supposed to engage in any activities that involved the boy or the robot in the beginning."

"Did my uncle really sell us out to that communist?" She demanded indignantly.

"Taylor," Archer laid a crippled hand on her shoulder. "Please, let us continue."

"So who decides my fate?" Hogarth asked languidly, wanting to get this over with.

"The proprietor of the Langjökull glacier and the one you threatened." Tabba answered.

Hogarth and the Giant looked to one another.

"You decide whether I go home or not, Giant." The young man said a little dazedly.

"It wasn't an easy arrangement," Daniel added as he crossed his arms. "But the Council did finally agree that it was rather justifiable since you have an established past together."

Tabba switched her hologram to a selection of assignment options. "Here are choices that you may decide from. You see, Giant, in the future we repay or remunerate with physical or manual labor for services or trespasses." He raised a finger at the hologram of choices.

"Wait… no." The Giant turned to his friend thoughtfully. "What do you want, Hogarth?"

"To do whatever it takes to make it up to people." He said with a sigh, rubbing his arm.

"You do seem to have the admiration of these children." Tabba hinted tactfully. "It would be beneficial for them to start learning about the world." She turned sad. "Educate them."

"That's what I've agreed to help do." Taylor told them, nodding to Archer and the Giant who nodded back. "They need to learn about what can and may happen to the rest of the world if we keep harming it." She shook her head. "And Giant, you're leaving again…"

"I'm more then willing to help with my know-how." Hogarth volunteered even at the adult's uneasy looks; he then turned to the Giant. "I know how critical it is for all of you to help stop the rest of those clones, Giant, and I'm not about to stand in your way again buddy."

The Giant let his gaze wander to the side for a moment of thought before he lowered his hand down before Hogarth. Curiously, he stepped on it. "If you want to come, you can."

All fell quiet except for Daniel. "Well, Iron Giant, I don't think-."

"It's cool, Mr. Barnes." Hogarth held out a hand, explaining calmly. "I've got this." He looked back to the Giant. "Thanks, but, you don't have to offer just to make me feel like I could measure up to such a responsibility." The Giant leaned in just inches from his face.

"I'm not offering to make you feel better, I'm offering because I _want_ you to come."

Hogarth rubbed the back off his neck nervously before meeting the Giant's awaiting eyes with acceptance. "Well, Giant of glaciers, if that's what you request I would be honored."

Taylor wiped at the side of her eyes with a little smile. "Oh, God. I'm going to cry." She tugged at the elastic of her tie-dye jumpsuit. Somehow, someway, she had to tell Hogarth.

IV.

Aboard the plane in Washington D.C. 1964…

Dean looked at his little girl sitting by the window looking out, and felt a sense of guilt at what had transpired over the last eight months. It had affected her more then she'd let on. They sat alone with Gordon and his mother in the back. "Baby…" he tried coaxing Julie.

"I want my bubby to come home," She said softly, cheek pressed to the glass. "I want my mama and you and everyone to be happy again." Dean sighed and put his hand upon the small girl's shoulder. How he wished things could return to normal, and yet how he knew things would never return to normal. But one thing Dean James McCoppin knew for sure.

"No one," He leaned down to whisper in his daughter's ear. "will ever take the place of your mother and brother." Julianne leaned sideways and laid her head down into his lap.

"Will you make more metal scrap art, Daddy?"

Dean took that question and let it settle into his mind as he leaned back and shut his eyes.

V.

"Taylor?" The Giant inquired her quietly as a full-blown news cast of the Iron Giant copy army was shown. "Remember that question I asked you the second night we were here?"

She turned from watching the hologram broadcast projected onto the ceiling uneasily and met his eyes. "I think so… something about planets." He placed his hand to his hip. "No. About Hogarth." At his name, Hogarth looked at them. "What are we saying about me?"

Taylor sent him a quieting look, but the Giant only started moving them closer together with his hands. "You told me you'd know when you saw him again. So, now you see him again."

When Hogarth looked her squarely in the eyes she knew she had to tell him the truth, and that meant the whole truth. "Taylor," he said curiously. "What is it you have to tell me?"

The young woman backed away a little as the children around were talking to each other about the droid clones being broadcasted that only six people were ignoring. She turned to look up at the Giant who nodded encouragement at telling Hogarth that she loved him.

Taylor then looked to Inx who shook his head at her telling him that she'd violated him.

"What do you have to tell me, Taylor?" Hogarth asked her carefully.

She opened her mouth to speak.

To be continued…


	25. The line between innocence and ignorance

**A.N:** I hope you like a love story chapter. ^^

~.~ _Her eyes, that's where hope lies._

_That's where new skies always meet_

_The sunrise. Her eyes, that's where I go._

_When I go home_. . ~.~

-Pat M. from Train.

I.

Taylor Evans, formerly Erika Robinson, felt herself at a standstill. She experienced the guilt of her actions on Hogarth upsurge from within as they all looked at her questioningly to address the boy who was the object of her affections. The overhead showed the long lines of very gradually developing Iron Giant copies out far on the ocean. But she knew their attention was on her for a purpose; The children were supposed to be getting an idea of the damage the robots could cause.

"There's…" She tugged on her tie-dye jumpsuit collar. "Not all that much to say."

"Taylor." The Giant encouraged with a little eagerness. "You promised you would."

When she began stammering and backing away, Hogarth folded his arms and narrowed his upper lids. He looked up at the Giant before making an indicative nod for him to intervene. The ironed colossus complied and lowered his hand down so that the girl stepped directly onto his palm, he brought his other down so that Hogarth could step on it and connected both of them side-by-side.

"…and it's just that I don't know how to say that I…"

When Taylor took notice she was several feet up in the air and chin-to-face with a rather casually smirking Hogarth. "Yes, Miss Evans," he said patiently. "You were just about to say that you…"

The inspiring little tale of stars and souls returned to Taylor.

She decided to take a leap of faith. "I'm in love with you, Hogarth."

The Giant let out an audible breath of relief, Archer had already left to see about his niece Trina, the ambassador of Iceland was patiently watching the last few minutes of the major news cast, the retired war veteran turned government agent was doing his best not to look interested in the star-crossed lovers admission booth and Inx ignored them entirely. Hogarth was left looking doubtful.

"You're in _love_ with me, Taylor?"

"Mmm-hmm." The Giant tried prompting her further.

She laced her fingers and nodded with a small, nervous smile. He took a few moments to let this sink in before he let an elusive smile cross his face. "You know, the first night we were here the Giant asked me that exact same thing. I only told him the partial truth when I said it was getting there." The Giant optic-balled him. "I didn't lie. See, what I didn't tell him was that I fell for you the very moment that I saw you." Taylor let a calmed look cross her face as they leaned inward.

They shared a deep kiss.

When the two leaned back, they looked into each other's eyes acceptingly. Hogarth looked out at the Omega D.C. children and nodded encouragingly towards them that it was all right to reach out to the people they had been taught to distrust. Taylor, however, met with Inx's disappointed eyes.

Unconsciously, the teenaged girl touched her hair bun. Her long hair was cropped. She touched the material of her jumpsuit. This was not her regular clothes. Taylor touched her size-B cups and realized she no longer had a flat chest. The sight of the children leaving sent a rush of realization.

_She _was going to be a mother, and _Hogarth_ was the biological father.

"I hope I got through to them," she barely heard Hogarth say with a heavy sigh. "I'm not going to win any role-model-of-the-year awards, but they do listen to me. Hey, Mr. Barnes. When does the Council want to gather these people to stop Kina?" The Giant lowered himself to Daniel's height.

"And how exactly are they going to help out?" He still felt sickened for the unconfirmed life loss.

The man ran a hand through his thinning scalp before he answered honestly.

"You four know as much as I do for the most part, but I doubt they will have anymore lives that will be sacrificially given." Daniel and the Giant met Hogarth's taken aback look grimly. "I-I… cannot believe I was so obsessed with getting back to my own time, those lives…" he moaned.

_Obsession._ Taylor grimaced inwardly. "Of course, there's still not a total yet." She added.

"It isn't your fault, Mr. Hughes." The man told him. Hogarth nodded in slow understanding as the Giant explained. "I had planned to rescue you from Kina and Trant, but I felt I couldn't let all of their sacrifices be for nothing. That's why I intercepted you." Hogarth chuckled a bit at the irony.

"You did rescue me, IG. Batman would have gone too far if Superman hadn't stepped it up." He reached into the pocket of his jacket and extracted the softly glowing orb that had helped him in his trialing months. "Here, I don't know if you could call it your kid but this guy belongs to you."

The Giant let the bandanna sheaf-covered sphere rest in his hand as he examined it over; the little black figure was refiguring itself inside. "Will it turn out just like the clones, Hogarth?" He asked.

"Not sure. But as far as I'm concerned this is your child, Giant. Heh, that'd make you a dad." His expression turned far-off; as if he were thinking heavily on that subject. Taylor feared that he had figured it out when Hogarth looked at her. "You're awful quiet, Hun. Anything you want to say?"

"Perhaps," Inx inserted as he folded his arms. "We could discuss the Giant's a_sexual_-like traits."

"Or," Taylor took charge of the situation with the knowledge that Hogarth's earlier verbal assault would be proven. "I could tell you that I'm pregnant, Hogarth." She told him in her calmest tone.

He side-grinned and shook his head. "Taylor, come on now. One revelation is enough for today."

"No," she came up and took his hands, her heart pounding in her ears. "you'll be the father."

Daniel Barnes felt ready to keel over. It was enough that he had become involved with the future to this extent, and to have Robert's niece and the Hughes's boy more then infatuated wasn't that hard to imagine. A good girl dating a bad boy was predictable. Although the sexual liberation was well under way, Taylor's sexual advances and Hogarth's stunned reaction left the man off-guard.

"What are you telling us, Erika Roberta?"

"You're not kidding." Hogarth said with surprise. "I'm going to be a-a-."

The Giant held the orb between his fingers carefully and pointed to it. "A dad." He said cheerily, the idea becoming more and more appealing. This left Hogarth in a state of brief happiness. "I'm going to be a dad… I'm gonna be a dad." He collapsed backwards in a near faint over this news.

Luckily Inx and the Giant caught him mid-fall.

"Hogarth?" Taylor inquired hesitantly, slipping the frown-creased Mr. Barnes an apologetic look.

"Hogarth?" The Giant coaxed him, careful with the still recovering arm between his fingers.

"I'm sorry, Inx." Taylor turned to the man.

"Do not seek forgiveness from me; seek it from your significant other." He told her solemnly.

The Giant looked back and forth quizzically between the three. "What's wrong?" he asked them.

"Do you know how hard we've worked to keep Dimelo's witless cronies out of our past, young lady?" Daniel suddenly stalked up to her. "Do you know the lengths I, Archer and others have all gone to try to get you back to the past? Yet your parents… it just runs in your family, doesn't it?"

Everyone but the Giant knew what was going on, but he was figuring it out gradually. "Taylor," he turned slightly shuttered eyes on her. "Did Hogarth want to become a father?"

Heartache welled in her light brown eyes; she remembered the night she had painted a beautiful image of what love was through Venus, roses and promises for him. His curiosity had been that of a child's as his capacity to handle a situation once grasped was mature and that of an adult's.

She didn't want him to lose that vision of romantic innocence because of her, just like Tress had lost his heroic vision because of Hogarth's actions. This deep need went above even her desire to hold on to her self-respect. She wasn't a prostitute like her mom or a teenaged rapist like her dad.

"Taylor," Hogarth uttered off-balance as he got to his feet. "Are you telling me the truth?" He got that same disbelieving look on his face when she had told him about her real motives for being in Rockwell, except multiplied. "You violated me Taylor and at the same time you care about me?"

"Yes." The young woman told him bravely. "I only meant to keep you warm from the frost-."

The righteous indignation that fell over his features froze words. "Kina did the same thing to me." He said in quiet shock and that's when the hurt pierced his blue eyes that Taylor was dreading to see. "I wasn't a virgin." Encroaching shame hit her. "I was." She covered her face with her hands.

"My God…" Hogarth looked at her purity ring. "I can't believe I called you a-."

"Slut!" Taylor shouted in a screech, she ran from the three with her face buried deep. Every one of the times she had bent or broken the rules didn't compare to this. The gentle hindrance from an iron hand against her arms only increased her need for flight. She climbed over it and dashed off.

"Taylor…" The Giant tried to call after her as even Inx looked ready to leave but instead turned to the Giant. "As much as I detest mentioning this, no offense Iron Giant, this immoral act was a direct action taken on your glacier." He said this in the hopes the issue could be resolved quickly.

"This is mine and Taylor's business." Hogarth also impressed this on him. "I know we have a lot of preparation before we head out, but this is something that needs to be dealt with right away."

"You shouldn't let your personal relationships influence your decision-making." Daniel protested calmly. Hogarth forced himself not to retaliate, but instead asked another question that had been burning at the back of his mind. "How is my family, sir? I want to know how my-," he stuttered. "-my-"

"Your mother?"

"Was Kina lying with what she said in that court room?"

"Yes," Daniel told him softly, giving no stray hint that he only told the partial truth. "She's safe."

"And I'm guessing you'd tell me if anything were wrong with my sister and Dean."

They both turned to the pondering robot.

The Giant had been thinking before addressing the middle-aged man. "This is their business and they need to fix it themselves." He nodded at Hogarth. "I hope that it works out for both of you."

"Thanks for the support, buddy." With that Inx escorted him away down the halls.

"If it's not too much of a problem," Daniel mentioned with a weary breath. "I would like a word."

"All right." The Giant tried to keep in compliable spirits as he brought down his hand.

"Sorry, that hand's reserved only for me." Hogarth called over his shoulder but waved at them to continue on. Daniel declined and the two headed down the corridor with him talking. "There's… a little more to this then has been mentioned. Something the Council wanted only you to know."

They exited to the outside.

II.

Back in Rockwell, December 12th 1964…

Dean, Julianne and company arrived back to their little town with friendly greetings and Dean for the first time in months took the attention without regret. The four were frequented at the old yard of scrap more then once. In between court dates, Dean had managed to sell the old farm house to distant relative's of Annie's and had cleaned up his building with some new interior for him and his daughter. It was a pleasant time to see Julie catching up with a few of her first grade friends.

It was late day as he and she were walking through the town grocery store, she was moving along a little unsteadily on her silver crutches down the toy aisle. As the girl bypassed the Barbie dolls for the book section, her grazing blue eyes caught sight of a doll she had never seen there before.

Julianne picked it up and examined it over. It was a very pretty doll, standard-looking in a regular dress but there was something different about it. Its faux hair was imbued in tightly-curled ebony, its set-apart eyes were calm deep-brown and its arms splayed away from its hour-glass shape had a very strange pigment: Brown. "A negro Barbie." She said, some excitement in her peppy voice.

African Americans had been on the news lately and she had heard they were trying to become a lot more important. The seven-year-old took the boxed doll to the front and showed the clerk with an eager grin. "Sir." She said to the wide-eyed man. "Could you hold this until my daddy's here?"

Expressionlessly, he took it. Julie noticed Gordon coming and waved at him. As he lifted his hand in return the clerk approached the young man. "Would you mind taking her outside for just a spell Mr. Rhinestien?" Gordon crossed his large arms uncomfortably and motioned Julie to walk away.

"Go find your daddy, Peach."

She looked between the two men, but scampered off to find her father. Dean was sifting through a rack of magazines with his groceries stocked up in a basket on his arm as his daughter came up to him. "Daddy," Julie inquired him, blowing up at her wisps of black hair. "May I ask a question?"

The man slid the James Dean-covered one of Us Weekly back into the rack. "Of course you can."

"Answer honestly."

He laughed softly. "Ask away, baby."

"Why are negro people becoming famous now?"

Julie watched as his eyes drifted up over the grocery store aisles to think; she couldn't see a thing.

Dean's easy-going expression shifted to one of shock. The man scooped his daughter up and took off through the back of the store. Julie kept quiet as she was use to these kinds of actions from the last eight months. Gordon held the door open to allow them passage and they exited immediately.

From the waning light slanting through the glass doors, the bottom of a pink box stuck up in the trashcan behind the clerk's counter. He got a marker, scrawled something on the box and tied it up before slamming the lid on the can. The man picked the tin can up and took it to the back of his stockroom, he sat it next to a neatly folded white robe and left to return for new customers.

III.

Subtle yellow daylight dwindled on the glacier's horizon as their second day there wound down.

The Giant and Daniel walked on the outside of the medical facilities with the smaller of the two moving along the elevated walkway as they went; he patiently explained to the robot the Russian scientist Dimelo's general plot and his own involvement in the whole thing. His enormous ironed acquaintance listened out of consideration, but unless knowing the entire back story was essential for his and Hogarth's mission to halt Kina in a futuristic Rockwell than he was not too concerned.

"What didn't you want my friends to know, Mr. Barnes?" The Giant stopped and turned his huge bulk to face him, ready to get to the pith of matters. "I do apologize, but I'm just not really up for anymore surprises right now." Taylor's, Hogarth's and Tress's well-being weighed on his mind.

Daniel looked the robot over once and determined something. "Iron Giant, I can safely say you're the first person-err-individual I have met in quite some time with such straight-forward honesty. I won't mince words with you large fellow, the Council has equipped us with strapped conditions."

He cocked his iron head. "You'll have to be more straight-forward then that, not-so-large fellow."

The man offered a hinted smile which quickly faded as he brought out a small box. "This, Giant, is a cognition condenser." He received a blank stare in return. "Please don't ask me to explain all of its inner workings." Daniel sighed and explained calmly. "Any gadget from this time period is science fiction in the past. Put plainly, this thing is capable of blocking out long-term memories."

Curiously, the Giant carefully extracted it from the man's open palm and brought it up to his low yellow beams as night fell over the reinforced-metal buildings. People were congregating out for fresh air as he looked the device over. Dark blue hard rubber veins made zigzags around it, purple painted in the grooves emitted a vague glow. He looked from it to the pale yellow glowing orbed copy of himself and said. "It would be nice if you told me this is made to turn pygmy - me good."

Daniel gave a slight "hmm" at that. "The Pygmy Giant." He mused before placing his hand into his face. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news. Giant, please understand, the Council thinks this is beneficiary." The man took a moment to gather his sixty years old life experience for this. "They figured you would give in to your friend's request. The lad means well, but he's also not a fool."

"Is there more to me just suddenly getting this glacier?" The Giant asked him wearily.

"Yes, Iron Giant." Daniel was all business now. "They believe he may still have contacts in other places. No one denies Mr. Hughes's well-intended tendencies, but this is a matter far greater then we are willing to risk. They scanned the memory of every last person through that portal while it was still open, and you hold in your fingers the memory imprints of every last person in the past."

"You mean… everyone I saved in Rockwell?"

Daniel Barnes nodded with a stony expression. "Giant, the only way you will be allowed to have Hogarth accompany you or even leave this glacier at all is by consenting to erase his, Miss Erika, mine and everyone else's memory of you, the future and all they have seen." He said to the Giant.

The two were silent as night arched over the frozen plains, giving the impact of the news time.

After about ten minutes of deep musing, the Giant replied with a much burdened expression. "Do you expect me just to go behind my friends' back and take away all the times that we've shared?"

"The Council expects you to prove yourself capable of making citizen-status decisions without letting your personal feelings get in the way." Daniel told him in a firm voice while trying not to sound too demanding. "From your past ventures, you have proven your capacity for this Giant."

He received a refusing glare and took a few hesitant steps back as the Giant lowered down to the man's level on bent knees. "I would _never _deceive them like that. I'm not a liar and I'm not about to tell them this after all they and I have been through. Let someone else stop Kina if that would mean Taylor and Hogarth can remember me, and then when it's done we can all return together."

"You're not grasping my point, Giant." Daniel strode up to stare the robot with equal, if not more, stubbornness. "Your friends will never even get to return home if you don't do this." He glanced over sideways so as not to look like he was in it for self-interest. "That includes myself as well. It stands to reason that this is why they provided you with a suitable residence when you stay here."

The Giant gently clasped the item and Pygmy Giant in his hands, covering his face with his arms.

"Let me talk to the Council myself." He said between grit iron teeth.

"They're gone to their own separate divisions in the world." Daniel shook his head sadly before he turned to head back inside. "You have until tomorrow to make up your mind my large fellow."

The Giant immediately moved away without a second glance back, his stride rigid and anxious as he began the difficult deliberation that the Council had set forth for him. One thing was certain to him though, if he did agree to this than he would make sure Hogarth knew about it before he went through that portal in future Rockwell. The Giant tucked the two meaningful shapes into the open crawl space of his shoulder line before extracting the metal rose he had crafted for Taylor, saying.

"This is the only way you can go home, but I know it'll break your heart." He began thinking.

Hogarth adjusted the worn-out collar of his jacket as he stepped out the sliding doors to see Miss Taylor Erika Double R. Evans. A misty, cool night openly canvassed the outside; he allowed the fresh air to fill his lungs and exhaled out in preparation as he approached the woman from behind.

She clung to a pole. "This is where my mother was when she found out she was pregnant." Taylor spoke in a distant voice, unwavering as she explained. "From then on it became her career path."

The man said nothing as he came to stand on the other side on the corner, clasping his hands on the sleek metal rail. Hogarth stared out into the distance before saying. "I was raised to believe in making an honest living. To me, it could be good or bad." He heard her laugh at this a bit bitterly.

"My mother isn't a bad person, Hogarth. But she made a very dishonest and disgraceful choice."

"Taylor," He turned her way, she didn't look at him. With a heavy breath, Hogarth reached the pole above Taylor's dipped head and mounted the slippery railing. He hugged the fat wet silver cylinder. She looked up in surprise and backed away from it. Satisfied with gaining her attention, he hopped down and came up to her with his hands out. "I think she was dishonest with herself."

"How do you figure that?" Taylor argued meekly, forehead puckered and eyes glazed in shame.

"Because she accepted that sort of lifestyle." Hogarth rested his hands on her shoulders. "Baby, I know I'm preaching the choir here but you don't have to lead the life of a label." He went back to stand beside her. "Your mother had a very bad experience, so she decided to let it define her life."

Taylor looked at him with drawn in brows. "What?"

A kind, but definite smile marked his bearded face. "It's your choice if you let one action decide your course in life, Taylor. The Giant for example, he was branded a gun but he refused to let that drag him down. I love you, Miss Evans." His blue eyes sparkled. "No matter what you say or do."

She let go and finally moved into his arms. Hogarth held her close to him until she finally moved back and stared at him with a strong need to know. "Do my intentions lessen this at all, Hogarth?"

"Did you want to do it, Taylor?" Was his crucial question.

"You can't hold it against me…" She grumbled and folded her arms. He asked her again.

"Yes, partly."

Hogarth remained very calm and frank with her. "Taylor, I do thank you for saving my life." He took her delicate lily hands, saying honestly. "But what you did to me was very wrong. You may have had good reasons, but you could have warmed me without giving yourself over. It doesn't."

She nodded acceptingly and looked down at her stomach. Hogarth wondered anxiously what she would say about the barely developed child. Would she be like Kina? Would she demand that he take responsibility for him or her? Taylor met his blue eyes. "What do you think about my child?"

_Hers, not mine_. Hogarth thought, trying not to let the relief show on his face. "I'll have to give it some thought." He was pleased that she would take full responsibility for the child, but worried at the thought of her feeling like she could depend on no one. "Taylor, I won't just leave you alone."

"I don't expect any child support or anything whenever we get back, Hogarth."

"Expect the unexpected." He winked at her and slipped out a couple pair of studded sole shoes.

"What are you going to do with those?" Taylor asked with an odd look.

"Make-shift, moonlit skating." Hogarth handed her a pair close to her size. "The night's young and so are we." He was invigorated to see a small smile light her light tan features. As she placed her hand in his larger light-skinned one, Hogarth stepped over the slippery silver railing to skate.

"Hogarth…" She began to protest.

"Look," He knocked a fist against a sheet of ice. "Rock hard."

Taylor sighed lightly and allowed herself to go into his open arms, the two moved back in a bit of a clumsy manner at first but Hogarth held onto her hands. Slowly, in unpracticed circles, the two young lovers moved with the swirl of the chilled wind. The muted light from the outside suddenly blossomed brightly and they both realized the Giant was peering over at them beside the facilities.

He swallowed a large portion of frost-covered metal with a grinding crunch and motioned at them to look away. "Don't mind me." His amber eyes illuminated a spotlight on them. They gave him a couple of appreciative smiles and concentrated on one another. As they rotated with their studded skates barely grazing the ground, Hogarth and Taylor began slowly reminiscing about their home.

"We never graduated." She stated sadly. "Well," he chuckled a little. "We've been a little caught up for the last few months. But wow, what I wouldn't have given to see you in a prom dress. I'd have sold my motorcycle and gotten a car. You know, I use to fix them up all the time. If things had worked out in my favor, I would have gotten a scholarship to be a pro auto body mechanic."

The Giant paused from taking a bite of old ship metal as he listened to them talk. "And if I hadn't gotten involved, the grades I had transferred over to Rockwell from Jersey would have gotten me a decent teaching degree." They began recapping over more missed school activities in their last days. He tried not to listen anymore, but found it impossible not to let their wistful voices affect him.

"We haven't even gotten enough of each other," Taylor said.

"Well, absence makes the heart grow fonder." Hogarth replied endearingly.

"But we'll never be able to make up for our lost time at school."

"Yeah," He admitted with a rough sigh. "We'd have to get our GED's and there's still the issue of the baby. And if when we return, I'll need to help you make plans. We'll need to start new lives."

"Together?" Taylor asked of him.

Hogarth leaned up to her face and uttered quietly. "Together... that is, if you can stand a Were Garth."

She laughed deeply.

They enveloped in a kiss as a full moon slid out.

At this point, the Giant canceled out his long-range hearing so he could only hear low frequency. It was because of him they had missed out on their regular lives. Knowing that his guilt couldn't be satisfied with consuming more food, the Giant set it off to the side and prepared to go off so as to think some more when the scrape of metal to metal hit his low-range sound sensory receptors.

The Giant allowed his yellow eye beams to swerve slowly over, when he was sure the intruder was in proximity of his reach the Giant whipped around and pinned the droid to the wall with his hand before it could get away. "Not so fast." He boomed in his bass voice; assuming it was Kina's spy. Since the orbs had been nabbed, they had put the entire medical facilities on high security.

When his eye beams focused on the creature he saw it was Kina's former droid; 35,000. She was standing partway in the shadows and edged back when he tried to move his yellow luminance to see her fully. "If you press any harder, you'll crush the gift I'm carrying inside of my stomach…"

"Gold?" He eased up on her. "What are you doing here?"

The droid lowered her upper shutter as she opened her gilded breast plate to reveal a swaddled up baby sleeping soundly. "This is Kina's daughter, Abba." She explained as she slipped her golden funneled arm around the defenseless infant. "I've come to deliver her to her grandfather Archer."

He moved his suddenly over-sized hands back as Gold brought Abba forward. "You are the first I have seen out here that I feel would trust me. Here," The Giant started objecting to even touching the chubby-cheeked child as she was placed onto his slate-gray finger tips. "No, it's not because she's Kina's or anything. But I… Gold, no. I'm just too big to hold someone as tiny as this baby."

"But there is no one I trust more." The droid said with a fond expression. "Kina, Giant, is not well enough to take care of this child." He hesitated, the human on his finger tip rested as sweetly as a lady bug. As usual, his enormous size made him an odd-match to someone much smaller than himself.

"I'm afraid I'll accidentally drop her."

"Nonsense, just keep the child's head propped. I did this with Kina when she was first born. Her mother ran out on her at birth and I was designed specifically to mother her." Gold let her head drop.

"I may have failed with Kina," she lifted a determined green eye. "But Abba is new altogether."

The Giant slowly found himself drawn to the baby and couldn't surrender her back. He used his thumb strong enough to puncture a hole through steel with little effort to gently caress the baby's forehead. When her light jade eyes opened and she saw the Giant a tiny smile formed on her plump bow mouth.

"Who's the dad?" He inquired softly in his gravelly voice, forgetting all his troubles momentarily.

"I rather not say."

"A-hem, I would like to take the child if it's not too much to ask." They looked up to see Archer and a bandage head-wrapped Trina out on the balcony. The Giant allowed Gold to stroke Abba a final time before handing the child up to the aged scientist. He smiled politely, lifting up his crippled hands. Trina gladly took her niece and disappeared. Archer nodded his thanks to Gold before he left. The Giant and her continued looking lingeringly before turning to look at the others.

"Your fondness for Hogarth runs quite deep."

He nodded at this. "They mean a lot to me." His shutters drew together in wonder. "Gold?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you believe droids have souls?" The Giant had always wanted to ask another of his kind.

There was a moment for thought.

"No, Giant." She noticed how down-trodden he appeared. "An eternal life force is not made for us. But it seems to me Hogarth has given you one thing that is equally important, my dear robot."

He turned to her at that. "He has shared humanity with you." Slowly she emerged a few inches to see his large iron sheeted face. The droid was no larger then his head, but Gold didn't hesitate to explain. "Droids were not meant to possess this, Giant. You and I are exceptions to principles; it would seem that one human out there thought well enough of our type to share a most great gift."

"Hmm…" He turned to look out at his lip-locking charges.

"Although I am not sure if we die or not, it is an assured fact that you will outlive them both. This makes their lives all the more valuable." She rested a thorn-fingered hand on his shoulder. "There will be a time you never see them again. But for now, enjoy the time you have with them on this planet. Treasure the fact that whether together for eternity or not, you'll have their affections…"

The Giant looked at her and gently fingered his hand on. They turned to face each other and he felt himself become entranced with the idea. "Everyone needs to be treasured by someone." She stepped fully out of the shadows, revealing only half of her body was there. Embarrassment crept up inside of him and the Giant shifted his eyes down as if he were a young boy who had peeped.

"Truly," He heard her say without shame. "If a droid could show affections as a man and woman do…" Gold's hand brushed across his cheek. The Giant froze up for a moment, for the first time he couldn't make up his mind. This experience was so new to him. When they met eyes the two very differently sized beings were mere inches face-to-face. "…then, I would choose no other."

Taking a chance, the Giant did what he had once seen a couple do. He brought his two fingers to the rim of his iron mandible and then gently tapped her gold mouth. "Would you be my Lois Lane?"

IIV.

Nighttime, Rockwell in 1964…

Dean walked on ahead of Gordon and Julianne into the mayor's office. The little girl had both her hands in her lap while looking down. What had she done wrong? Gordon tried his best to console.

"It isn't anything you did wrong, Peach."

"I wish my bubby Hogarth was here," She said softly. He worried for her; the reality that Annie was really gone was beginning to dawn on the child. "I'm sorry, Gordon." Julie rubbed the back of her small hand across her eyes. "I know I'm supposed to be strong, but I guess I'm just not…"

"Whoa, now." Gordon lowered down to her level, gathering her up in his large arms. "I want you to listen to me, little lady. Real strength isn't about what you have going on the outside," he drew her closer to his face. "Julianne Peaches McCoppin, you are the strongest person I have ever known."

"Really?" She asked, trying not to sniffle.

"Yes, Ma'am." Honesty shone in his deep brown eyes. "I use ta think bein' tough meant bein' a bully." A faint mist entered his eyes as a crack entered his voice. "Thanks to you and your whole family, I've learned what it means to have courage and believe in something that you can't see."

"You have faith, Gordon?" Julie asked with watery eyes, slipping into his large arms.

"Yes sire, little misses. I also have faith that one of these days your brother will be comin' home."

He looked out into the park where the Iron Giant statue was partially hidden in the shadowy depths of the trees, and he knew that he owed the large titular-named creature a lot. The Giant may not have saved him like he had saved the town, but it was Julie's faith in the unimaginable that had turned Gordon toward what wasn't supposed to be known. The man hoped that he would never lose this feeling.

"I know I'll see Hoggie again."

"The sandwich?"

"No, Apples silly. My brother!" Julianne giggled.

To be continued…


	26. Hogarth and the Giant's story arc: Pt 1

**A/N: **This is basically a whole new story arc for the last portion of my story, hope you enjoy. By story arc I mean things really begin for pick up with Hogarth and the Giant. A lot of this chapter focuses on a single relationship for important reasons. Get cued in. ;)

I.

Washington D.C., December 12th 1964…

The outside was dimmed as nightfall spread across the courtyards of the temporary cells that contained inmates ready for transportation; a retired army general garbed in his best business suit walked down the hallways escorted by a prison guard, going by a room for interrogation and down to a long room where meetings with inmates were conducted.

Mr. Shannon Hines Rogard had been presented with the option of a private meeting being held in the more constricting of the two, but he had chosen to bypass it and had arranged a less formal meeting with a former federal agent. The back room came alight beyond a panel of glass as he made his way toward a plain oak chair and sat down facing a weary man.

"It's been a while since we've spoken one-on-one, Mansley."

"So it has." He was dressed in shoulder-to-toe tangerine, his once bright reddish-orange hair had grey coloration seeping through the roots and in the shadows from the halls he appeared older then his early forties. "I heard you sent the kid a bolt." Kent mentioned.

"One of several actually." Rogard added in a civil voice, crossing his arms. "But we both know about that." Neither man said anything about Kent's admittance and betrayal of the communist Dimelo; they both knew he would never receive any badge of honor. Finally after a long period of silence, Kent allowed his azure eyes to travel up and meet Hines's.

"And we both also know there's a real reason you sent that screw, sir. What is it?"

Rogard's eyes held no remorse in them for Kent's earlier redeeming actions. "I know you won't tell me anything I'd want to know, your egos been inflated and deflated too much."

Being trained to see through lies, Kent saw right through the retired general's facade. "I have come to terms with myself, General. And yes, the real reason I helped convict that murderer was to clear my own name. I may be selfish, but I'm not ashamed to admit it."

"We have an understanding then." Satisfied, the seventy-one-year-old man took his leave.

"You forgot to answer my question, sir. Why is it that you sent the boy that screw? Why you may hold a large quantity of sympathy for Mr. Hughes, I have a feeling that you sent him that screw not just out of commoration and pity." The controlled tone of Kent worth Arnold Mansley's voice hovered with anticipation. "I am just dying to know the secret."

The general turned with a figurative look at the man. "Mansley, my sympathetic qualities for Hogarth and what's left of his family overrides any desire to obtain information from you. Classified or otherwise." He left with a clear conscious and mind with one thought.

Nuclear transmutation. Hines answered to himself in his mind, daring not to utter a word.

His former underling lowered his head in supposed defeat and abjection.

The elder of the two departed.

"Transforming robots, eh?" Kent mused to himself, tapping on a dime-sized ear piece.

Mansley looked up at the retreating figure of his former commander and smiled slyly, he had been ready to make amends but the general's lack of concern for that only solidified the man's resolve. With Dimelo out of the way Mansley had sweet revenge all to himself.

"Mansley!" The warden called from the doorway. "Meal time. And guess what, it's going to be a grueling experience today as always." His raucous guffawing made Kent cringe as he stood up miserably. "This has not been my best day." He sighed roughly, trudging on.

Just as Kent was ready to enter the hall, he pulled out his pocket watch and the photo of a brown-eyed, golden-blonde haired young woman made heartache bunch up inside of him. "Lurlaine." He whispered, they were in the same city and she hadn't wanted to see Kent.

The real reason he had admitted anything to the judge was because he knew what that darned beatnik was going through. Mansley wasn't a killer, but he was resigned to fate.

If he could go back in time, he would change things. But the extremist couldn't be halted.

Kent knew that Hogarth and the Iron Giant were the only ones who could stop Sergey.

But why should he stop what was already well underway? It was too late for him.

The brink of dawn, December 13th 2201…

II.

Night and mist gradually churned back in preparation for a clear and spectacularly sunny day; the opportunity for love and a future beckoned the horizon of everyone's inner stars.

"Giant!" Hogarth called out to his friend. The two robotic entities looked over their way. "Way ta go, buddy! Don't fight the love…" he was immediately swept exasperatingly up into Taylor's hug. The Giant chuckled a little to himself and turned back to see his Gold.

She was inching away into the receding shadows, rendered suddenly self-conscious of the fact that only part of her was there. "It was good to see you again Giant, I leave for now."

Folding his shutters inward with incredulity, the Giant snapped his enormous fingers onto the droid's arm and pulled her back toward him. "Wait." He said gently, but hindered the golden robot from leaving. "You don't have to run off. They could fix you here, Golden."

She closed an eye and shook her wire and circuit exposed head. "No, Giant. They could never repair wounds that are unseen. Please release me." He complied but his mandible gave a little tremble as she slid off along the building. "Do not pursue me now, all right?"

"You can't just leave." The Giant tried again to beckon her. "Where will you go?"

"That is for me to know."

"Gold…"

"Giant." She turned to look him in his eyes, straining a final message. "You committed a life to Hogarth and I will not jeopardize such a bond." He shook his head at her notions.

"You have it all wrong. There's plenty of room for…" She inched away. "Don't make me pick and choose, Gold." The Giant said, turning offended. "I have too much to lose here."

"Precisely, my dear robot. I will not add more."

"Will I see you around… or ever again?"

"I'm always around, Man of Steel." Gold attempted a laugh; her voice had warmed to a sophisticated, womanly dialect. She straddled the side two steps. "Good morning, Giant."

With that, she teleported away.

"I don't believe it," Hogarth said with a disbelieving scoff. "That has got to be a record-breaking break up. She led him on and dumped him in four minutes flat." He turned to a concerned Taylor as she said. "I should probably go and talk to him about love and loss."

"Whoa-whoa-whoa." Hogarth caught her arm as she made a move toward him. "Taylor, you may have spent more time with the Giant but no one knows him like I do." She gave him a curious look as he folded his arms and continued rather boastfully. "The Giant may seem like he has more software then hardware, but when it comes time to give up all he love and cherishes the Giant knows how to man it up..." he flashed a doubting Taylor his widest, daring grin. "Iron hard. Right Giant!?" Hogarth swung two firm fists into the air.

"Mmm…" The '50-foot-robot moaned in dejection as he trudged past the two, his entire upper body nearly dragging him down in the weight of his low spirits and dashed hopes.

"Ah come on, pal." Hogarth skated forward. "There're others out there in the frozen sea."

"Oh, nice going Hogarth." Taylor muttered before swatting his arm. "He's heart-broken."

The memory of his first major break up resurfaced. "Yeah, like a kid with a crush who got crushed. Like me and Abigail Winters in seventh grade." Hogarth squeezed her arm reassuringly. "You should go talk to him. I've got to get inside and get ready to change."

Taylor faced him with an admiring look. "I love how much you care."

He was a little surprised at her more free-spirited sexiness. "Well," Hogarth shrugged his fuzz-covered brows twice. "I love how you love how I care so much." She and he leaned inward to engage in a final passionate kiss when in unison they were stopped by the Giant gazing over at them wistfully. Taylor and Hogarth exchanged unsure looks at what to do.

"She probably just needs time." The young woman said kindly.

He only appeared more depressed.

"Hey, Giant. Check out this cool ice-skating move." Hogarth grabbed Taylor by the hand, whipped her around in near-perfect tango spins, went under her legs like a limbo pole.

"Hogarth!" She nearly exploded on him.

They turned at the Giant's heavy sigh at their attempts to cheer him up. "It's all right, you two. Don't let me spoil your time together." He waved for them to continue on and went on his way down to where the iced ocean opened up. Hogarth looked after him dubiously.

"Yeah, my best pal's in gloomsville and I'm going to enjoy myself. Right."

Taylor hugged him and skated out to follow the Giant. Looking down, Hogarth saw that he needed some work done as the sun splayed out over the once unthawed ice and made the decision that it was time for a change. He was going to have a lot of responsibilities in his near future, and one of them was saving the world, which meant he had precious time.

"Better get some fun in while I can." Hogarth said, becoming upbeat as he trotted over to the sidelines in a relaxed state. Time would always pass him by, but he would not let life.

The Giant used a large pointed rod to scrawl rather poorly drawn whales crashing out of the clear ocean water, their rubbery flippers arched out of the cerulean splendor in a way of greeting fellow whales. They were large and very social giants of the Denmark Strait.

He felt around inside the space of his shoulder, the yellow orb Hogarth gave him jostled.

Taylor had a time sliding in and out of the Giant's large foot prints; she uneasily noticed that droid operators were working on decommissioned droids over a ways. The girl made it over a more solid body of iced snow, rose to her feet and brushed the white powder off.

"What're you drawing?" She asked him casually.

"Taylor." The Giant looked over his ironclad shoulder at her.

"It's just little, old-_yipes_!" In a split-second, Taylor inadvertently found a weak spot and sunk right into the snow. Crabbedly, she folded her arms and leaned against the enclosed embankment created by her plunge. "It seems like I'm always getting in over my head…"

A large shadow loomed overhead and the Giant's affably amused white eyes zeroed in on the stranded girl. "Then it must be nice to have someone over your head to help you out."

Taylor smiled and backed away a bit as he gently prodded a finger down to her level. The grey digit stayed there long enough for Taylor to grab it before she was lifted out clinging on to it, and up to meet the Giant's face just about thirty feet high. "Hi." He accosted her.

"Hey." She greeted back, accustomed to being suspended up at such heights.

"Just hanging around?" The Giant inquired breezily, his shutters arched top-to-bottom.

"Just hanging around." Taylor reiterated. When he brought his left hand down for her to rest her feet upon, she merely clung on. Concerned she misunderstood, the Giant ushered Taylor down with an inward finger wave. "I'm trying out some feministic rights, thanks."

The Giant cocked his head at that before straightening up a bit and going into one of rare, mischievous moods. He rotated his thumb into his palm and gave a small poke under her underarm. Taylor suppressed a laugh and immediately clutched at it, resolved to hold on.

He shifted his head to the right a little and brought his thumb back to its normal position, she shrieked his name out in a burst of laughter when he poked under her other underarm.

Taylor glared at him only semi-seriously. "That's not funny!"

"I'm not the one laughing…" He chuckled softly.

The Giant then tried for her sides with his left fingers, Taylor gritted her teeth in a forced smile and then clutched at both her sides. On a roll, he moved on to the backs of her legs.

"What if your children saw us!?" she gave the hand a swat. "Giant, come on, stop that…"

"Oh, all right."

She eased up as he moved his arm back to the ground, but was caught off guard to see his hand was detached and lying on its back on his knee cap. It gently plucked off sole-studded shoe as easily as if it were a grape; she exploded with laughter when the grey-tipped index finger tickled her foot and in those moments Taylor forgot her troubles.

The Giant re-attached his wrist to his arm and made sure she landed safely in his palm, he held out her temperature-resistant, white slipper shoe on his finger tip for her. "All right?"

Taylor nodded wordlessly and concentrated on putting it back on. "Just fine."

Unsatisfied by that, the Giant tapped her cheek and prompted her to look his way. "I'm sorry. I didn't go out of bounds, did I?" She smiled at this. "No, you were fine." Her light brown eyes moved down to her tie-die jumpsuit. "I'll need something more stretchable."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

When Taylor looked up she was right before his eyes. "We've told each other everything over these last few months, haven't we?" He nodded his Notre dome bell-sized head. "I just…" Taylor looked to the icy expanse. "… Didn't want you to lose your concept of love."

"Taylor." The Giant said patiently. She turned to him. "With you and Hogarth, I've seen what true love is." He turned musing as he looked out. "It's not something that's perfect."

"But there's nothing wrong with being a romantic." Taylor added, concerned about him.

The Giant didn't go into the Gold situation as he raised his hand up to his shoulder, and she slid onto it to gaze out with him. "So… you lived here for six years in snow and ice."

"That's right." He gave his plated chest a few proud clamps. "I was unofficially known as the robot-who-hid-in-the-glacier-and-ate-ships." The Giant lifted his lower shutters a bit at Taylor's somewhat stunned look. "Or, you know, a whale-hunting harpoon or more…"

She chuckled before pausing for thought. "It must've gotten rather lonesome for you."

A distant look entered his glowing eyes. "Sometimes." He didn't allow that part of him to show as he went on briskly. "But you learn a lot about yourself when you're on your own for so long. Like this spot is one of the greatest ones for whale watching. Of course, being

So icy they probably moved on." Taylor just kept quiet as he spoke on, wrapping her legs close to her chest and just enjoying his enthuse for the glacier he now owned. "Oh," The Giant pointed over at a funnel indention. "There's where the penguins use to slide down."

As he moved sideways, Taylor slipped off his wet metal. "Whoa!"

"Well, they didn't say 'whoa'. But they slid-." He suddenly became aware of her descent and caught her before she hit the snow back first. "Um, sorry," Was his sheepish apology.

"I'm all right." Taylor told him as he sat her down on an exposed rock. "But tell me, did you ever think about going back to… well, _Rock_well. Back in our own century, I mean."

The Giant rubbed his chin before responding. "I did. But not right way. I decided that if I ever did try to go back, it could only be when I had a better understanding of myself and only if Hogarth needed me." He tapped the round screw that secured his gargantuan jaw.

"And then one day it went off…" Taylor coaxed.

"And I decided to return."

She smiled humorously in memory of their first encounter. "And then we met. You know Giant," her mood turned a little serious. "I can still feel Hogarth's holding things inside."

"Mmm… I think so too."

"But you know, when he opens up I have a feeling it'll be to the one he trusts the most."

"That's good. Who?"

Taylor looked at him incredulously.

He placed his hand to his chest. "Me?" As happy as the Giant was to have his best friend back, there was still that distance between him and Hogarth. "Well, maybe sometime…"

"Look at all this far out snow." She mentioned.

The Giant slid his fingers through the fine white particles beside Taylor, emerged with a handful of the stuff piled up and flicked a bit onto her. Taylor threw up her hands at this and retaliated by scooping some snow herself, but spilled it to the side at the last minute.

"That's not fair." She folded her arms. "You're four stories high."

Evening the odds, the Giant scooped up another handful and squished it around to pack it in. He gave her a considerate smile and held out a near-perfect snowball in the middle of his palm. Taylor took it reluctantly as he lowered to her level, closed his eyes and pointed at his cheek for her to hit it. She smiled at his cuteness and gave him a small peck instead.

The Giant opened his eyes in surprise and looked at her; Taylor chuckled at his look. He sat up straight and let his gaze roam around the carpet of sun-bathed ivory before spotting a couple up a ways away. "Hmm…" Taylor watched curiously as the Giant stood up, ran his fingers through his circular hip spaces to get snow out and took a few backward steps.

"What're you doing?"

"You'll see." He said simply. The Giant positioned himself, craned his neck around twice at ninety degree angles to see behind and then straightened his arms out like a giant letter T. There was a low, whistling _whoosh!_ and the Giant plopped down on his back. A jostle of vibrations caused Taylor to have to cling onto the rock. "You're holding on, right…?"

"Yes." She said, shaking her head in amusement.

In delicate precision, the Giant fanned his flailed arms up to his hearing sensors and then back down in a clean arc to his sides. Taylor just hung on and enjoyed the ride as the path around the rock was cleared. He remained stationary before extending his hand out to her.

"Help me up?"

"Hey," Taylor cast an ear-to-ear grin down at him. "You got down on your own; you can get up on your own." He opened his shutters to glance up at as she climbed into the hand.

Readying himself sturdily, the Giant gave a deep grunt as he rose to his feet and swerved on his heel in a crouch to survey his creation. The impression in the snow would've been perfect had there not been his large hand print in the snow. "Nice job." Taylor concluded.

"You make one." He insisted to her.

"All right." She agreed. The Giant moved her down to where his chest area was at before helping her off. Inhaling in deeply, she yanked her hair from its bun and fell backward in a state of bliss as she executed a snow angel of her own. "Need a finger?" He offered her.

"Thanks," Taylor smiled and crawled back up into his palm to sit down and survey her own work. "_Very_ nice job." The Giant complimented. She rubbed her arm a bit modestly.

"Yeah, but it isn't as big as yours."

"Well, no," He admitted in his baritone voice before pointing out. "But look, Taylor. See how yours is shaped. It's perfect!" The Giant's voice wavered in its tone. "Complete…"

Taylor looked up at him sincerely. "It only got that way because I had help." She said.

His offered smile wasn't convincing, so he sighed and rose to his full height. "Let's go back inside. I need to straighten some things out before this world-wide road trip happens."

But she only continued to examine him; Taylor's eyes traced the shape of his grey dome-head, the curve of his under bite, and the all-or-nothing determination that could appear out of nowhere in his eyes. She felt she was one of very few who saw beyond his wrought iron face.

"Is there something you want to ask me, Giant?"

He turned to give her a questioning look. "Ask you something?"

"You know," Taylor encouraged him. "Something that's on your mind about…well, us."

The Giant turned slightly embarrassed white eyes, but she kept his gaze unfalteringly. He took a moment to consider something and encompassed the petite girl in his hands. There was a forbidden sense to the friendship they shared, and they both knew it would deepen.

"If I wasn't…" The Giant started cautiously, not wanting to startle her with his question. "What I am. Or you weren't… what you are. Do you think… that we… you and I, um…"

"Could have fallen for each other." Taylor concluded tonelessly.

He nodded once. With a soft sigh, she rose to her feet and came up close to his enormous iron plate face. "Giant, out of everyone I've met along this crazy journey you're the one I've learned most from." Taylor smiled tenderly. "You're my friend, my brother and even sometimes a father. Before you and Hogarth, I never trusted men aside from my uncle…"

"…But..." The Giant insisted with a low, eager note.

"But, even if you were human I don't believe I would ever have fallen in love with you."

He looked away and seemed to be thinking to himself.

"I know that's not what you wanted to hear."

When the Giant looked at her there was a pleased expression. "Actually, it's exactly what I wanted to hear." He placed his finger tip atop Taylor's heart. "You and Hogarth belong together, Taylor. It's just something that I needed to know. I want you both to be happy."

Slowly, he pressed her up against his face and she sprawled out across his metal cheek in which surprisingly emitted a concentrated warmth inside. This was one of those times she forgot about their outward differences, only now the feeling was stronger. "I do love you though, Giant." Taylor said as he moved her out to face him, tears escaping her ecru eyes.

"I'll miss you." He told her.

She decided on her course in life at this moment: Motherhood.

The Giant knew for certain now what he would decide regarding his friends' fate.

From the enclosed area outside, Hogarth watched the two with a small smile on his face. He sensed someone coming up from the side. "So, Inx, how will this whole thing work?"

"It does not bother you to see that." The older man gestured outside.

"What?" Hogarth turned calm eyes on the green-suited guy. "That my girlfriend and my best friend are close…Not at all." Inx eyed him intently. "It is an odd sight, Mr. Hughes."

"I'm not the jealous type, Inx. I know the Giant would never take advantage of this whole love rectangle with Taylor." He eyed Inx just as intently. "You have feelings for her too."

"Very perceptive." With a mutual ground established between them both, Inx went over a handheld communicator. "All right then, Mr. Hughes. Since you've consented to a rather perilous choice of compensation, for the next twelve hours I've been assigned to be what you people in the 1960's might call a 'customs official." Hogarth thumped his shoulder.

"All right, Inx. But if we're going to become chummier with me you're going to have to loosen up, and start calling me by my real name." He let Inx led him inside, hands resting on his head. For the first time in a very long time, Hogarth felt like he could finally relax.

"Oh, that is right. You wish to be called Garth Hughes." Inx said quickly.

"No, try Hogarth." He flashed the man a ready smile. "Let's get on the ball, Mr. Inx."

Hogarth and the Giant caught sight of each other for a moment as Taylor went back toward another section of the facilities, the Giant gave him an odd look at the display that he and Taylor had just given but Hogarth merely placed his hands up to his temples and waved at him slightly. The Giant gave him a double wave as well and went along his way back inside.

This was the path in life that Hogarth chose; his bad boy image no longer had a place now.

To be continued…


	27. Story arc Pt 2: Suit up

I.

Taylor slipped out of the rather childishly multi-colored jumpsuit, and examined her 5'3 self in the mirror. The beginning of hips outlined her sides; adorable and dainty handles of love that could be pinched. Her belly button was inward and hair that she intended to shave at certain locales pointed Taylor Evans in the inevitable direction of womanhood.

She had her once long dark-blonde hair curling at the ends of her shoulders, and rounding out her small, oval face. The almond-tinge eyes that reflected back were wide-eyed at the changes that had occurred over the last eight months. Taylor ran her fingers down her stomach in absent-minded rhythm. A mother at seventeen; it was beyond amazing that the Alpha D.C. people in the examining department had detected signs of Taylor's pregnancy in the early stages of it all.

Taking a deep breath, she glanced over at the small ball that emitted a golden radiance at its core that the Giant had entrusted her with. Taylor had a feeling she knew what it must truly be like for him. It was such an uncomfortable experience, to have something in you that you'd rather not have.

Taylor slid on her new maternal blue jumpsuit that Trina had brought her and examined herself again. Without her jeans on, the suit sculpted her normal figure that was ready to stretch gradually as her abdomen would begin to swell in the upcoming months. She inhaled deeply and tried to put on a readying smile. _What would her mother say when Taylor got back? What would anyone say?_

That's when the sight of the orb caught her eye once more. Boldly, and to appease her own guilty conscious once and for all, Taylor strolled over to the orb lying on her bed, picked it up, took the tie-die bandana in hand and secured the ball in it. She than took her bell-bottoms and worked out a jean pouch that cradled the forever-developing Giant offspring into the center of the dark pants.

"Well," Taylor moved the orb up and down, smiling genuinely. "Just call me Kangaroo Jane."

"Ta-ta…" A little girlish voice peeped from the inside of her pouched pooch.

Daniel Barnes had a time with directions to the restrooms, the customary jumpsuit that they had provided him burned in all the wrong places as he came upon a room marked with a 2201 sign for restroom. Patting his thinning hair, the middle-aged man was about to enter the door when there lay a hand on his shoulder. He was about to react when tiny earphones were situated in his lobes.

_Dan, it's me. _Robert's voice spoke to him. _Don't react abruptly. This is the only way to talk._

Taylor's waver inquiry returned at that moment. "_Did my uncle really sell us out to Dimelo_?"

Gritting his teeth, Daniel whirled on the black-haired man in a blue jumpsuit and seized him by the shoulders. Robert (who's birth name had been John Robinson) did not utter a word as Daniel thrust him against the wall in a tight-fisted hold. The anger from all of the injustice this man had secretly caused welled up in him like a boiling pot set to overflow.

_Think before you act, _Robert said with hard, regretful eyes. _Literally, old partner. If you say the wrong thing The Council's spies will catch you. Please… _He begged thoughtfully.

_Mind-reading. _Daniel thought tersely and let up on his former friend. _Is there nothing the future folks don't think of? And don't call me partner, Robert. What the hell is going on?_

_Listen to me, Daniel. _Robert swallowed hard and motioned the man to walk with him to the end of the hall. _Things belly-upped in Jersey when I escaped with Trisha. Some of the communists threatened her daughter's safety unless we gave in. I don't know what to say._

_Stop being so damned down on yourself, John. _The older man sighed roughly and folded his arms. _Your niece is the one you need to set right. Erika… she looked up to you. Now, what can you tell me about old Sergey? Anything that might help Hogarth and the Giant?_

Robert rubbed at his temples.

_John…?_

_You know the orbs have been stolen._

_And?_

_And, Daniel, there are droid operators who are already here who are working on two of the Giant's captured clones as well as the decked-out silver and black one. You know…?_

"Robert!" Daniel shouted in frustration, ripping the thought text communicator plugs out.

_They plan on secretly overriding the Giant's programming to gain control of his clones._

He advanced on a shaken-up Daniel with a long taser rod set to stun him. _Stop them at the precise moment you wake up. They don't know how much Hogarth and the Giant __need__ to remain aware of each other. _The older man lunged at Robert, but fell in the process of it.

A jab to the ribcage and Mr. Barnes collapsed fully to the floor unconscious.

"You were my friend…" He said with a sting in his voice.

"I still am."

Hogarth whirled on one heel to face a hall full of Alpha teens and young adults with a towel thrown over one shoulder, and a suave smile plastered on his face. "Hiya, fellas! What's happenin'?" he was greeted with many blistering stares. "Guess I'm at the back?"

Some of them cleared their throats. "_All right_… savin' the best for last, I can dig it."

They just glared at him; apparently Garth Hughes didn't have a good reputation in many places. Unbothered, Hogarth sauntered confidently forward and greeted all of them in a coolly casual way as he made his way to the end, even saying "hi" to the Twiddle twins who had insulted him.

Inx, who had sent Hogarth in the direction of the restrooms, was relieved to have a few minutes alone to himself before they met up again as he walked down to the showering halls. As he rounded his way to the end, Inx spotted a young man with copper hair without his raggedy clothes on. "Oh good Goddards," he said in surprise and turned on his foot.

"Hey, Inx!" A hearty voice called out for him. "Where do you think you're going? Come over here!" Hogarth encouraged loudly without taking any notice that he had become the center of attention. Inx gathered himself and approached his charge with calmed restraint.

"I see you took my towel." He said to Hogarth tolerantly.

The teenager lounged against the wall aloofly, his hands laced over his head and a distant look over his face. "I thought you said for _me_ to shower off after I went to the toilets." He admitted truthfully, the two moved together with the line up to an elongated wash facility.

They both looked down at each other's pride and manhood momentarily.

"Well, now we know why." Hogarth mentioned.

"Yes, now we do."

"Don't feel off-beat. Without guys like you, there wouldn't be guys like me." Hogarth elbowed Inx's forearm to show him he was kidding. "We complete each other, you know."

They finally made it to the doorway.

"Now, Hogarth," Inx began to warn him carefully. "It is very important to remain quiet-."

"All right!" He announced his arrival, having not heard the man. "Just like high-school." Hogarth turned a little disappointed. "Except for no towel-snapping or exposed cheeks."

Inx sighed a little but nearly fell back in amazement as Hogarth slipped off the temporary Speedo that all men wore to shower off, and snapped it over his head. "And that is for...?"

"A shower cap." Hogarth grinned over at him before heading inside.

"This is going to be a long day."

The two approached a couple of empty stalls next to a man with a toned upper body that was disproportionate to his lower half. Hogarth started to go in when he was barred from it by his neighbor's arm. When given a questioning look, the man simply glanced away.

"Reserved." He muttered.

"I don't see a name on it." Hogarth argued coolly, folding his arms. "So how do I know?"

"That's because there isn't one marked on it. All Omegas are at the back of the facility."

Inx tried to get a word in but couldn't speak fast enough.

"I'll have you know I'm not on any one particular side," He told him. "I'm an American from the 1960's and back in my time we usually voted to settle a dispute. Now," Hogarth turned to the showering men. "Who casts a vote for free use of any vacant shower stalls?"

No response.

"Let me try your method." The man from before said. "Who votes for Garth Hughes to leave all together and never return?" He smiled smugly as most hands shot up in unison.

"Should have seen that coming." Hogarth commented with a sigh. "Well, majority rules."

"Just a minute." Inx halted him abruptly, grabbing onto his shoulder and steering him to face forward again. Before anyone could argue, the Asian man held up a small screen in front of the fun-house mirror-looking man. "I have been given _written _jurisdiction right from the Council themselves to guide Hogarth through these next several hours." He got up in the man's face expressionlessly. "And I _will _not under perform any assignments."

Begrudgingly, the man nodded but left the bath house altogether.

"Good looking out, Inx man." Hogarth thanked him briefly as they took two of the three stalls. "Listen, I'm here to learn. So anything you have to teach me I'm all ears." Inx gave him a considerate look. "That would be preferable." He said as he began to shower down.

"All right, magic fingers." Hogarth flexed his five digits. "Prepare to grant my lamp three wishes." He had hardly begun when he was hindered by a stringent look from his mentor.

"What _are_ you doing?"

"Uh… what men do. It's perfectly healthy and natural."

"Hogarth," Inx said with mild sternness in his Hawaiian accent. "Masturbation is strictly prohibited. I will let it pass this time. But anyway, you will need to be briefed on all our moral codes later on." He received compliance from his charge and the two kept washing.

"Oh my!" Someone called out.

"Look at what he is doing?!"

"Hogarth," Inx dug his hands into his sleek black hair. "You are urinating now!?"

"Yeah, I couldn't find the urinals."

"It is…" His other neighbor wore a horrified look, backing into the wall. "Unhygienic! What kind of uncivilized creature relieves himself in his own bacteria cleansing vapors?"

"The kind that accepts his manhood." Hogarth replied, scratching his wiry armpit.

There was a clamor as the men tried filing out in an orderly fashion, but found that they got stuck in the doorway. Hogarth didn't so much as lift an eye lid at their noisy getaway.

"Cool, more room for me."

When he did look, Hogarth saw Inx had moved a distance away but was still in plain sight. The two caught sight of one another and nodded mutually in agreement. They were both two polar opposites for the most part, but that didn't mean they couldn't co-exist with the other.

"Our granddaughter." Tabba said with a heavy breath as a nursing droid operated a self-rocking gravity crib in the nursery; The Icelandic Resource Conversationalist smiled at a sleeping Abba. Archer rested his crippled hand on her shoulder, relieved and yet worried.

"And Hogarth's daughter." He added to her.

"Nonsense!" The woman huffed. "The sooner that twosome returns to their own time and that free-willed droid returns to this glacier the better." She stroked the infant's cheek in an attempt to try and calm her nerves. "It is not for the boy to tamper with my dauther's child."

"You mean, the child she abandoned." Archer stepped in front of his ex-wife as she tried to exit. "The monster is not made too differently from its maker, Mrs. Galling." He had to fight to keep his normally calm temper from surging. "I believe Hogarth has a right to know her."

Tabba straightened out and a crooked smile arched across her face. "Archie-ball, you had the chance to raise Kina properly and you failed. Instead of performing _your _tasks and try construct some shield, my ingenious daughter took it a step forward. Admittedly she has gone too far with this but who could care less what happens to our family at this point…"

Archer didn't look incredulous and he did not feel like he could. The man moved to one side and allowed her passage. Personally, things were not going well for him. Not only were the kids going to have to have their memories erased at the end of their journey, but the Council was violating the rule that stated newborns belonged to their natural parents.

As he left the room, Archer thought to himself how complicated all of this was becoming.

It wasn't often you had the inadvertent founding father of **all** future technology to try and save. He had hoped to keep things quiet, but he knew Hogarth Hughes was going to have many questions to ask later that day. And the scientists, unfortunately, had many answers.

Trina entered from a different door and over to her second cousin's crib-side. There was such corruption in her family that it sickened her to be a part of it. Her own parents were too caught up in international work to even send her a message to get well, her droid was gone, her aunt and uncle were planning things behind the others' back and the worst part was she was powerless. Trina was a nurse and minor droid repair woman; not some hero.

But as she gazed down at a sleeping Abba, there was one thing Trina knew that she could do. It was going to get her a third violation, but Taylor and her friends had endured more then most at this point. Trina felt that breaking her probation was the least of her worries.

She scooped the infant up and made for the door.

Hogarth tried not to tug at the diaper-ish crimson towel he'd turbaned around his butt and pelvic area as he stood before a miniature screen that hosted two different options on how to shave his face; quick and slick or slow and even. Having passed on the other options of hair removal, Hogarth stroked his straggly beard with an intrigued look across his features.

"How about…"

"Option one: selected." A non-gendered voice said.

In a split-second, he had to dodge a variety of sheers and sculpting blades that shot out at him. "Whoa-whoa!" Hogarth grasped the mechanical arms firmly and worked them back into their wall sockets. "You have your way and I have mine. If you were the client, you would want me to do my job and give you more time to select these 'options'. Hold up."

"Voice command is irrelative." Its 'tone' didn't hold a single note of confusion.

"Well, shaver bot," Hogarth crossed his arms. "Commander of the voice is not pleased at all with your inhospitality. Now, I know your central processor can comprehend a more wide variety of options if it really wanted to. You either do your job for me right or you detach a razor and let me do it myself." He told the computer. "I'm here to be serviced."

There was a moment where Hogarth thought it was contemplating his words.

"Alternative options available."

He traced a goatee-shaped ring around his face and gave a side grin. _Finally._

Hogarth slid his newly self-modified blue jumpsuit on; he had fashioned it with his red towel so that large lapels protruded out of his collar and allowed his bushel of chest hair to seep out just a bit. The other ends were made into makeshift cuffs on the very ends of his sleeves. Becoming more at ease with himself, he gradually turned to observe all of his angles. Hogarth sighed a bit, tugging at the auburn hair trimmed just below his large ears.

"Hey, you." A familiar voice said from the doorway.

He turned to Taylor with a welcoming grin. "Well," Hogarth tugged at his collar. "What do you think? They cut a little close to the face, but I think shaver bot did a decent job…"

She formed a critical look and strolled up to her boyfriend with the glowing orb secured to her stomach. Hogarth couldn't help but to stare as Taylor circled him, her chin cupped.

"Hun, these are made for drying off with." She snapped the towel from being tucked into his shirt. "Not for accessorizing with." He sent her a look at this and snatched it back up.

"Oh, and I suppose bell-bottom sashes are all the rage?" Hogarth leaned into her face. The two narrowed their eyes on one another, and sank into a deep, sensual kiss. Taylor took it back and made a sort of neck tie with it, but he undid the towel and discarded it sideways.

"Chest hair…?" She gave his springy follicles an unsure glance.

"Yeah," Hogarth looked down proudly at his unzipped, V-neck line. "C'mon, babe. You know you find it rugged and rough-around-the-edges." He kidded, but Taylor only rolled her eyes and zipped it up. "In case you haven't noticed, there aren't that many _men_ here."

A couple of blue-suited guys walked by the open door.

"Does this cuticle look noticeable to you?"

Taylor laughed at that. "As I'm finding out, there's more to men then just their hormones Hogarth." She said as she took a hair tie from her wrist and pony-tailed his auburn hair up.

"Speaking of which, I think yours is a little off because I look like a girl." He complained as he cupped the sides of his head. "And now you can totally see my jumbo Dumbo ears."

"Let them show." Taylor encircled her arms around Hogarth and hugged him against her small body. "I think they're cute." She leaned up and gave them a tug. "And receptive…"

"My own unattachable Sputniks." He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. The light in the room was dimmed and half of their faces were revealed in the reflection. They peered out from their deep embrace with loving smiles and enchanted eyes, but were interrupted from their moment of splendor from the kick of the Giant's glowing orb in between them.

With their future hovering on the horizon, Hogarth led Taylor quietly over to the bed and the two lay down together. He lay out across the length of it with her right at mid-stomach.

"What are we going to do?" Taylor asked in a shaky breath. "Hogarth, my mother is so deeply involved in all of this, you and the Giant are leaving and I-." she was silenced by his fingers to her lips. The young woman quaked slightly from atop him in her hidden nerves.

"Taylor Evans," Hogarth slipped her hand into his and cupped it securely, telling her in a calm, steady tone. "If there is one thing I've learned from all of this, it's just to roll with the punches and not ask a lot of questions. When we get to this child _then_ we'll worry over it."

She started to sit up but was halted by his touch. "I need to make plans, Hogarth. They'll need clothing, shelter, a future… Hogarth, I'm ready to accept the consequences of what I've done but it's not like baby supplies will show up like magic." Taylor turned his way.

He lifted a straggle-free brow at her. "GEDs, part-time jobs and anyone who's willing to pitch in to take care of Hogarth Jr." At Taylor's still stressed look Hogarth sat up and told her seriously. "I'm going to be there for you when we get back, that's a promise I'll keep."

"I know."

"But wow, I got passed the giant and got the golden goose without lifting a single finger."

"Don't make me cut down your beanstalk, Jack." She chuckled and leaned over to kiss him.

Hogarth let the softness of Taylor's lips overlap his uncertainites. If there was one thing that he could never let her or the Giant know, it was that he still doubted himself. This had been on his mind ever since the first day they had arrived, how was Hogarth important in all this?

He hoped he could find out along the way; but Hogarth knew that he could not ever hope to match up with his childhood friend and unspoken rival. And there was no doubt who would be the better father. As much as he hated to feel envy, Hogarth could never equal the Giant.

Inx had returned to the auditoirum only to find the Giant and two of the Omega D.C. kids who were the first to exchange their purple jumpsuits for blue, immersed in some game they liked to call "Go Fish". He had initally declined participation, but they had worn him down to stay and play. Now they all sat cross-legged in a circle with a card game older then them all.

"Inx." The little bleach-blonde haired boy Tress said from in front of him. "Got any 5's?"

Unsurprised at how much fun he _wasn't_ having, Inx peered up blankly over his cards. "No."

"You could put a little more effort into it." The older boy Ven told him. "Like Hogarth."

Inx bit his tongue at hearing that name for the _thousandth _time that day. "I do not see the point in this game." he admitted truthfully. "It's so very uncomplicated, trivial and simplistic."

"We're keeping points now?" Eight-year-old Tress inquired.

"There isn't any point." Ven explained. "That's the whole point."

The Giant looked between the three from his height uneasily at what to do.

"So we _are _keeping points?" Tress further asked, scratching at his cornsilk hair.

"Tress is right, Inx." Ven declared in frustration. "If you wanna complain, then keep score."

Inx leaned into the much younger player's face. "At least that would involve some real skill."

"So we're not keeping score..." Tress said lamely.

The Giant pressed his hands flat together and counted to ten; one of his calming techniques.

"Tress," He addressed his pint-sized friend. "No one's keeping score. Ven, Inx has to have time to get used to the way you do things. Besides, if he left we'd be one player short." He received a quiet glare from Tress at that one. "And the point of a game is to have fun Inx."

"Yeah, stop flipping your lid and play." Ven said seriously.

"More references influenced by Hogarth, I assume?" Inx inquired with a lifted eye brow.

"I wouldn't say he's flipping his lid." The Giant winked down at Tress. "He's just wigging out."

"Does he just think this game is a lot of lip-flappin'?" He asked his brother.

"Yep," Ven laughed a bit but gave Inx a pointed look. "We're not talking about Garth right now, so let's get serious about this." he looked over concernedly at Tress's downcast look.

The four then began to do just that. After several more minutes, Tress and the Giant managed to come to a tie as Ven and Inx had been more focused on giving each other looks. "I did it!" he laughed triumphantly and threw up his hands. Ven grinned and caught him in a neck hold.

"Here's your congratulatory noogie." The brothers laughed and wrestled around together.""

"Yes," Inx sent the Giant a skeptical look. "It's easy to win when your opponet holds back."

Ven turned incredulous. "You didn't let Tress win, did you Giant?"

"Who, me?" The ironed leviathan patted his chest. "Of course not..."

"Giant?!" Tress gaped at him.

His brother folded his arms. "I'll bet you cheated at our Frix match all that time ago." Ven said.

"Hogarth likes to call it innovative improvisation." The Giant tapped his fingers together.

"Let's hold him down until he confesses!" Tress said and charged forward. "

"He is a '50-foot-tall robot, how do you ever hope to hold him down? "

"Like this," The little boy hopped onto the back of his hand. With no effort whatsoever, the Giant successfully was 'pinned' down by Tress as he tried to jerk his arm up. "Well," He made sure no was behind him before he went back into a lay out position. "He's got me down now."

Tress held on as he was transfered up to the Giant's large chest and stood up on it.

"You let me win, didn't you?"

"If I admitt I did, will you let me up?"

"Yes, I will."

The Giant didn't move a metal muscle.

"Or you could just promise not to let me win the next time we play. "

He shifted up his neck and lowered his upper shutters. "I promise." There was no doubt that he could keep that promise; the Giant was going to have to live here after all of this anyway so there was no doubt they would have fun together again. _Hogarth_... How would he take to it?

Probably just as he had with the missile incident, the Giant had always wondered exactly how it had affected Hogarth. "_I feel like he's still holding things inside._" Taylor's words echoed.

People began filing in and the sight of Archer coming toward him let the Giant know that now was the time for his future (and his friends') fate to be decided. Dismissing his lingering doubt, the Giant laid a hand out for the man and he boarded it without a second thought or hesitation.

Below, some young Alpha women were coming up to Ven and Tress with information to give.

"Well, " Archer spread out his arms for balance, chuckling a little . "The view is remarkable."

"It's pretty handy when it comes to settling disagreements." He commented lightly. There was a moment of preparation and the Giant told Archer. "Although I disagree with it, I'll consent to the Council _only _if I can tell Hogarth at the very end. I refuse to go behind his back and do it."

"Giant, " The man sighed heavily and touched his giant thumb. "I admire your loyalities to your friends. Surely it would be anyone's desire for a companion such as yourself. But the Counc-."

"Archer," He lifted the man up to his steadfast white eyes, saying calmly yet firmly. "I told Mr. Barnes exactly what I'm telling you. I'm not putting the Council before my friends, they can do anything they want to me so long as Hogarth and Taylor can be together." The Giant told him.

"I do not know how the Council will respond to this in a few hours, but if those are your only conditions."Archer surveyed the surrounding area and smiled down on the taken-aback boys below. "I've been keeping tabs, the Relations Officials have been uniting the Omega families."

"That's good." The Giant commented, relieved that Tress and his family would be reunited.

"Now," Archer ushered him to turn back his way. "As you know, the 'S' shaped magnet we designed to help retain your weapons was lost back on their trestle tracks." The Giant looked at him curiously. "You didn't manage to get it back, did you?" he asked the man a bit eagerly.

The enthusisam the scientist had could not be contained. "Yes, only modified and with a few new features as well." Archer gave a few loud claps and they both turned to see a large panel of walling shift open to reveal a suit of metal in red overlapping-blue with a large 'S' centerfold.

"Superman..." The Giant said softly. "You made the 'S' golden colored?"

"Indeed. It was a few later minute alterations inspired by a certain droid." Archer told him.

His heart swelled. "It's beautiful."

To be continued...


	28. Pt 3: A family is born Pt 1 of 3

**A/N: **These next couple of chapters expose some very important things about Hogarth, and the Giant's past will come up pretty frequently too. And trust me, things get pretty difficult for them.

I. Rockwell, Maine December 15th …

Dean walked through the empty room of Hogarth's. Pictures of motorcycles, James Dean and the Beatles covered every inch of his walls. The man passed around Hogarth's made bed up to the window and slid his hands into a pair of his old tight-wearing jeans. Taking a deep breathe, he began to wonder if his step-son would make it back in time for Christmas of that long year.

As Dean started to head out, something occurred to him. Curiously, he stepped over to the wall opposite the window, un-tacked a corner of a Harley Davidson poster and peeled it back down to the middle to reveal a large spaceship. For the next few minutes, Dean through regard for his step-son's privacy to the wind and began tearing down every last poster in Garth Hughes room.

When he was done, Dean felt like he was teleported back in time and he knew exactly how his step-son felt. Posters of Space-Age galore, drawings from rudimentary sketches to finely drawn replicas of media-covered photos about seemed to breathe out in a longing, melancholic sort of relief. Dean plopped down in the middle of the old bed and buried his face deep into his hands.

The carpet was covered with a menagerie of leather, glossed- over motorcycles and gelled hair. A slow, almost painful realization washed over the man as he realized that by removing the layer of heavily forced manhood, pride and dignity, Dean released the spirit of a sad, lonely little boy.

And yet from this burdening feeling came a light of inspiration out of the dark sea of deprivation.

Mid-day, December 2201 Iceland…

II.

"When I asked you to escort me down the hall, I pictured it being just the two of us." Taylor said as she and Trina proceeded together to the auditorium. The woman smiled a little on the sheepish side. "I just wanted a moment alone with my uncle's niece, she's been through much."

Taylor smiled down at the squishy-faced baby, her little nostrils were damp from being runny, her soft lips smacked tiny bubbles and her closed eyes squeezed with long, curling lashes. The two friends looked at each other with contained joyful expressions. "There's one thing though."

"Taylor, we have been through this, you must wait until the ceremony before I reveal who the-."

"No." She placed a hand on the woman's arm and the two looked up to see a man standing in the doorframe of the entrance to the auditorium. "It's my uncle Robert." Taylor told her stonily.

A large lump developed in the woman's throat, she saw the man who would bring her a half a dollar coin every time he visited her mother's apartment, the man who took her out to ice cream during his visits and the man who had promised Taylor a better life in exchange for giving up her normal life blocking the entryway. The lump in her throat sank into her chest and then to her gut.

"Baby." He approached his niece with his hands out. Reduced to a girl, Taylor backed away at the familiar presence. "You…" She clutched at the Giant's orb and pressed it in a secure hug to her stomach, attempting to keep a croak out of her voice. "You have no business here, Uncle."

"Erika," Robert also had a time maintaining his voice and manners. "Please listen to me. I've-."

"Come to take me home?" Taylor said abruptly, anger welling inside her chest so fast that it was burning twinges of pain up to the tips of her breasts. She boldly strode up to stare him straight in his disheartened, cautionary eyes; her rage blinded her to this. "Or come to take me to Sergey?"

"Erika, dear---."

"Save it!" Her rage turned to sarcastic accusations. "Oh, I know! You're here to coax the orb-"

Robert caught her around the arms and held her close to him, careful not to graze her bust. "I'm here to tell you that everything I and your mother have done has been for you, Erika Robinson."

From over her uncle's arms and through her blurred vision, Taylor saw Trina take a few steps away from the two and take off with the child. She tried to run after her but Robert kept his hold on her as two men raced passed them. "What's happening, Uncle Rob? Who are they?"

"Someone to stay away from." He said in irritation as he raced after him. "Go, Taylor! See your friends off and don't worry about me." She watched after the man, feeling stranded and torn up.

"Uncle-."

"You're meant to be here!" Robert shouted out to her firmly. "_Go _see your friends."

~_~_~_~

As Hogarth walked down the hall he could feel his heart rising in his chest; how had he possibly gone from fugitive to would-be hero in such a short time? Now that he was on good terms with the friends whom he thought he had lost eight months earlier, he was assured that his family was safe and he had his wits collected back; Hogarth had to wonder why they were allowing him to go. All he really knew was that he and the Giant were going to be a part of a makeshift mission.

Hogarth also wondered how they would stop a whole fleet of Giant clone copies, as well as the whole transmutation thing. In the back of his mind he still held some reserve for transforming the Giant into some kind of mode of transportation, but Hogarth knew better then to ask questions.

Everything would fall into place, and he had to focus on using this mission to reconstruct himself.

The young man entered out of the hall wings and in to see the scene in the auditorium happening.

~_~_~_~

The Giant took in the enormous suit that awaited him. "It looks bulky." Archer said with a hint of apology in his voice. "But rest assured, it will conform fittingly to your unique structure. Well," he rubbed at his chin as the Giant sat him upon the ground. "Your _original _uniqueness anyway."

Speechlessly, the Giant grasped onto the giant gold 'S' medallion and yanked it off to examine it closer. "You didn't have to do this." he looked to Archer modestly. "This is really all too much."

"It's just like a giant jumpsuit." The man argued reasonably. "Though a rather anomaly, I do say that it would make your citizen status official. You see, Giant, there is also a non-societal reason for it." he continued to try to persuade the iron leviathan. "The droid operators who have come to re-program your clones brought it along; it's magnetic force guarantees with-held weaponry."

_Guaranteed or his dignity back? _Hogarth thought from in the crowds. He moved forward to see how far the Giant would conform to his new expectations. For the young man himself, it was enough to respect and try to obey the rules but he wouldn't be subjected to tights without briefs.

That's when he recalled the cruel irony of the Giant's earlier joke. "_I don't even wear clothes_."

"I thought the magnet was enough to hold my weapons in."

"It was never foolproof." Archer told him and ushered the robot to step into the big, clunky suit of metal. "But this will assure if you decide to remove the main magnet for any reason, than you will still be secure to set foot out into the world. Now, if you will step back…" he motioned him.

"Do the right thing, pal." Hogarth said softly. "Even if it means suffering a little."

The congregation grew quieter as he took a few hesitant steps back into it and held out his arms that were automatically about to be compressed into some crimson-over-dark-blue metal mold. Hogarth swallowed a protest; this was the Giant's choice and this was another part of his duties.

If anyone deserved a choice around here, it was him. "Wait." The Giant suddenly clutched at the closing shafts of metal and carefully pried the encircling, cylindrical sleeves back apart. "I don't want to wear this." he held the magnet to his side and stepped back. "I'm sorry, Archer."

The man sighed with what could have been relief mingled with concern, and with only several claps the suit reverted back to the outside. He spoke nothing as he walked toward a group of operators. Hogarth also felt a little concern, but chuckled at the silent triumph that had occurred.

"All right," he turned to the passerby who hadn't wised up and moved beyond all their gawking. "Show's over, no one likes gaggling spectators. He's a very tall robot, not a carnival attraction."

"Hogarth." The Giant greeted him partially amused, partially thankful as the rest dispersed then.

"Giant." He greeted back and tugged at his collar as he turned in a showing-off circle; he had advocated for one size larger in his jumpsuit pants only (which were still dark blue) and a jacket with red cuffs and collar. "It's not exactly form-fitting, but what'd you think… Groovy enough?"

The Giant nodded at that and placed the magnetic 'S' upon his chest while striking a pose with his hands on his hips. Hogarth chuckled as he approached. "All right, Superman… now we're talkin'." A thought occurred to him as the Giant lowered his hand. "So, who should I be then?"

"Hmm… you want to be a superhero too?"

"Well," Hogarth absentmindedly crossed the Giant's palm to which the robot used his other for a bridge. "Superman never really did have a sidekick or any full-time partners." he turned to the Giant with some inspiration. "You are technically older than me, so maybe I could be like your young ward." Hogarth was given a curious look. "Yeah," he enthused. "I could be… Iron Lad."

"Iron Lad?" The Giant said uneasily.

Even Tress and Ven who'd been talking amongst themselves about family matters took notice.

There was suddenly a guffaw of unexpected laughter down below, Hogarth glared down slightly as the otherwise mild-mannered and tactful Inx was clutching his sides with a red face. " _Lad_ !?"

"Oh, and I suppose you can come up with something better… _Sphinx_."

The Asian man cleared his throat as he stood up and gathered himself. "Which no longer exists."

"I like it," The Giant told him honestly. "But it's my name."

"You would think that it would be the Giant's _son's _name." Inx commented to no one person.

"Yeah, you're right." Hogarth propped a hand against the Giant's inward bent fingers, lounging crookedly with his feet crossed. "I think it's taken too. What about just Garth: Boy of wonder?"

An uncompromisable glint struck the Giant's white eyes. "_Man_ of wonder." he reiterated.

Hogarth rubbed the back of his neck. "Thanks. Coming from you, that means a lot." When he tried to catch Tress's gaze toward the ground, the boy turned away with a mulling expression.

"So." A brisk, strangely coquettish-sounding voice said. "What superhero do I get to be?" They turned to see a confident-looking Taylor with her back against the doorframe, observing things below with a quiet humor. Hogarth and the Giant gave one another intrigued looks at her notion.

"And what would you like to be known by?" Her boyfriend inquired.

"Oh, I don't know… how about the Flower Goddess." She said in a humoring voice.

"So what would be your powers then?" Hogarth kidded. "Petal powers of love and goodness?"

"No," Taylor smiled sincerely as she approached the two. "But I do wish the both of you love and goodness." The Giant kneeled down and fingered the orb that was securely in a stretchable pouch. "I thought I'd get a jump on the competition and start getting use to bearing the bundle."

"There's no substitute for motherhood, Taylor." Hogarth told her quasi-seriously.

"And being a mother is no substitute for not being a person." The Giant gave his dome head a scratch when they turned to him. "I've got a habit of giving what I think is sage advice, sorry."

The young woman placed her hand upon the middle of the orb with the men's finger and hand on either side of the glowing ball. "I think Pygmy's a girl." Taylor said, trying not to sound sad.

"Guys," Hogarth started to say decisively; they both looked at him. "This is it. We're not just friends anymore, we're a family. And somehow, someway, we are going to make this work."

The Giant and Taylor turned confident at this, that is, until Tress came up to stand before them.

~_~_~_~

"Trina!" A voice shouted out for the woman. She ducked in and out of the hallways as people in green uniforms were coming after her and the liberated baby Abba. The all-too familiar sounds of droids shape-shifting behind her increased her need for flight as she raced down the hallways.

"That child must be contained and kept away from the past boy!" Another voice shouted out.

The paneling of windows that shot passed her as she ran revealed a haggard older woman who appeared at least middle-aged, Trina felt the still insufferable feeling of betrayal and in her great rush she had to wonder was it all worth it. Humankind was a dwindling population of scattered inhabitance across the world that Hogarth and others would soon endure; he deserved to know.

"No!" She cried as a pair of hands grasped her arms and reeled her back. The rattled child let out a disturbed moan as she was ripped from the woman and secured safely away. Feeling that she had let everyone down, especially her yet to be avenged droid, Trina sank upon her knees.

_If we have our way about it. _A stern, commander-type of man with beady black eyes and a thick mustache down passed his face said as he approached her in a casual swagger. _I'm going to have an elite army of droids to help save this world, and that will mean certain people will need to be gone. _She felt a sharp prod in her forearm and before Trina could blink she fell.

"_Ugh_," Her brown hair splayed over her face as he picked her up.

"The baby?" The droid operator assistant inquired.

"Return her to the nursery." The chief operator said to the young man. _If anyone asks about the whereabouts of this Washington Alpha D.C. person, tell them the young woman has been overcome by madness of her family's corruption_. He text thought as he walked down the hall with Trina dangling from his arms. _After the ceremony, we will harvest total control_.

The young man in a yellow jumpsuit stood stolidly by with the squirming baby in his arms as his commander walked away. _Overriding the Giant's functions and imprisoning Garth Hughes will go against the Councils orders_. _Should anything go wrong, we'll be branded traitors_.

_Not unlike the improvised revolutions eight months earlier_, _it was all merely a matter of time before 'world peace' was broken_. _And in anyway, why we will appear treacherous in the beginning everyone will eventually see who has the 'true' power around here_. He went passed a shadowy space in the hallway. _At least, we will once 7000 system's are overridden_.

Daniel stepped out of the space and continued down in the direction the commander went; he'd been left very specific instructions by Robert to keep his eyes on this man. Easy done then said in his own opinion, if these men were going to be interfering with destiny he'd have to intercede.

~_~_~_~

Hogarth and Tress looked at each other across the way without knowing what to say. In the beginning they had been friends, then they had survived with one another for eight long months and then Hogarth had went overboard with the defined word "protection." The little boy was several feet from him when emotion swept across his face, and he went for Hogarth in a near fit.

He wasn't sure if Tress was going to punch his gut in or break into a bawling session, but was genuinely surprised when the child locked his arms around his waist securely. "Please don't go yet, Hogarth. I'm sorry, I'm _really _sorry for the way I acted." Hogarth grasped his shoulders.

"Whoa, whoa Tress," He looked down at the child remorsefully. "If anyone should be sorry it's me. After all the trash I've put you and Ven through."Tress sniffled as he slipped out the spotty and stained Superman magazine; specks of yellow roughly glued the jagged rip down the center.

"My old hand manacles?" Hogarth tried to appear joking. The Giant took the magazine up in his finger tips. "I'm sorry, Giant." Tress said to him with tears freshly brimming his eyes. "I didn't-."

"Yes, you did." Hogarth remonstrated him. "You wanted to get back at me, Tress." he started explaining understandingly at the boy's shame-faced look. "Little buddy, the comic book is the last thing I'm worried about. You wanted someone to look up to and I did a real half-butt job."

Tress smiled a little at that. "But you're still a hero and heroes aren't perfect. Right, Giant?"

He nodded proudly. "That's right."

"I don't know about that…" Hogarth grinned a little.

"Iron Lad, remember?" Inx came up next to Taylor and flashed him a devious grin.

"Ven, are we cool?" Hogarth looked up at the approaching older brother of Tress's. The gold-brown haired teen took a moment to glance down at his younger brother who sent him a worry-free little smile. He met Hogarth's apologetic eyes with a contented look. "We are cool, Garth."

"Hogarth." Tress, Taylor, the Giant and Inx echoed.

"Right, well. It looks like we will be meeting with our parents after this event." Ven commented.

"So Hogarth, Giant," Tress looked in between the two of them. "Can I come with you guys? I won't get in the way and I'll even stay out of the way." They all exchanged uneasy glances with one another. "Please?" he kept asking them hopefully. "I want to see the world and everything!"

Hogarth sucked in air through his teeth. "How to put this…" He eye-balled the Giant who gave him an expectant look in return; they both knew that between the two of them Hogarth always had the better approach at explaining things. "Well, Tress, it's not that we… well, we'd like-."

"Will one of you tell him already…" Taylor groaned in exasperation, fingers bent to throttle.

"Tress," The Giant attempted to explain as delicately as he could, placing his finger on the boy's shoulder. "We have to go." His finger tip then traveled down to the boy's chest as he continued to speak. Strangely though, as Hogarth watched and listened, all outside noises that seemed to only cause distraction at that moment filtered away. His azure eyes widened with remembrance.

From the deep corners of his mind came the distant, familiar baritone voice.

"_Hogarth_. _You stay_…"

_A little boy hung his head and refused to look up, but a large finger slid under his chin in a coaxing, gently demanding way_._ The presence before the child suddenly felt very large and intimidating, not dangerous but in a rather commanding, needing urgent feeling_. _The gesture was almost inquiring if it was all right, but resolute in a mind that was one-track_.

_He tried to resist as a grappling of pain knotted his chest, and the onset of intimate doom that struck the mist and cloud sky with an almost suffocating fume of the great paranoia and post-catastrophe_. _Hogarth could hardly stand straight_, _but simply couldn't resist the urge_ _to look_. _The strong determination mounted in unwilling-to-cling white eyes hurt him_.

"_I go_."

_His heart fluttered and sputtered_. _'Don't go, don't go_!' _Hogarth's mind cried desperately_.

"_No following_."

_One step back and Hogarth was ready to fall to the ground in a sobbing, moaning display of rage and sorrow_. _Out of the thick air and confusion, a hand lunged and firmly grabbed onto the boy's arm like a life-line and a leash to keep him from running_. In the months that would follow, this hand would be the one to guide Hogarth and keep him from veering off track.

Presently…

"…And Tress," The Giant was explaining to Tress. "You need to-."

"Be a superhero!" Hogarth said quickly.

Everyone turned to look him incredulously.

"A _what!?_" Taylor said in disbelief, no longer into the whole superhero-joke-along game.

"Yeah," Hogarth went on haphazardly. "A superhero."

No one could believe the words coming out of his mouth.

"Okay, I'll be the Tresser!" He announced enthusiastically. "Now can I come?"

"Well, yeah, but next you'll need a form of superhero identity."

"Like what?" Tress asked in confusion.

Hogarth had managed to slip out his old fighter pilot goggles. "Like a mask," he snapped them above his head and under his chin. "Or like the Giant's insignia --- something to set you apart."

"Like a cape." Taylor said suddenly.

"Or a cape…" Hogarth nodded in agreement before realizing what she was doing. "A what?"

"Here ya go, the _Tresser_." Taylor motioned at Inx to take off his green jacket, who caught on to her charade, and tied it around the excited boy's shoulder. "Any other requirements, love?"

"A super power…" Hogarth said lamely. He knew dodging the truth was complicating things.

"You don't have any." Tress pointed out, pouting a little.

"_Hogarth_," The Giant said his name a little deliberately, and he turned to face him. "You need to be honest with him." Taylor caught on that something was wrong. "Are you even up to this?"

"Yes." He told them both firmly but sighed deeply. "You both are right though. Look at me…"

Tress started to look up.

"No wait." Hogarth reacted suddenly and placed the child's face into his chest. "Don't look."

"It's all right." He backed up and met the young man's eyes in acceptance. "I'll look."

To be continued…


	29. Pt 4: A family is born: Pt 2 of 3

**A/N: **Let the action and intenseness in these next chapters commence!

"_And then, my friend. There are actual colossuses who feel so sight worthy they do not even wish to be what you would call an underling_."

I.

"Tress," Hogarth had bent down to head-height with the small boy. "It isn't that we don't want you to come, the Giant and I would love your company. But you have all your friends and family right here. It-." he glanced up at an understanding Ven and back. "It wouldn't be right of us to."

When Tress tried to hide his true reasons by turning away, his brother coaxed him to keep his eyes up. "What if our parents don't want us anymore?" He asked, his voice wavered in callow.

Hogarth furrowed his eyebrows together and then relaxed his goatee-ring face into a kind smile. "Tress, don't you get it?" he held out a hand to Taylor who went into his arm and laid his other hand on Tress's head. "We _are _a family. It doesn't matter where we are or what time we're in."

"Families are made of people who love each other." She rested her cheek onto her boyfriend's shoulder and sent the Giant a smile, then to Ven and Inx and back down to a wide-eyed Tress.

"So even if we're not related…" He said bemusedly.

Hogarth nodded to confirm this. "Even if we're five-hundred tons of iron or one-hundred or so pounds of flesh and bone." he gave the Giant a nudge against the front ankle with his elbow and received an elfish thumbing to the shoulder as a result. Inx held out a shoulder-strap knap-sack.

"Before I forget Hogarth," he opened it. "Here are different holo-paper instructions. Since you'll be only accompanying the fleet, you should have plenty of time to go over the different ways of our future. Now, you do remember how to transmute the Giant after all of this time, don't you?"

The young man gave him an unpleasantly recalling look. "Yeah, from our first encounter with her Wickedness." he turned to the Giant. "You remember, right? Imagine, tap, tap, then transform."

"We only did it once." The automaton noted concernedly.

"Than we'll consider this a refresher course." Hogarth tried to enliven him to the idea, he started to pull out a piece of paper from his pocket. "Believe it or not, I did come up with some ideas-"

"Excuse me, are you the past person coming along on this trip?" A slightly familiar voice asked.

"That's right." Hogarth turned around with a hand out. "My names Hogarth Hughes, and this-"

He froze in mid-greeting. Before him were the two men he had unofficially dubbed the Twiddle Twins just a few days ago. They were in between his and Inx's age, wore bright yellow-colored jumpsuits and were 'brotherly' in appearance; Hogarth could tell it wasn't in the friendly fashion.

"You are assigned to the left tip wing of our quadric fleet formation." The left one told him.

"And you will follow under our guide as we follow our chief droid operator."

"Well…" Hogarth said begrudgingly and gave a deep sigh as he glanced back at his friends. "I guess it's time to bury the hatchet and let bygones be bygones." he offered a hand out to them.

They made no move to grasp it. "I am Drick." The left young man said in a proper voice before lowering his hand down. "And I am Drock." The one on the right clasped Drick's hand fittingly in the standard futuristic handshake where the palms were flat together and the fingers laced up.

"So you're…" Hogarth dropped his hand and tried to make small talk. "Brothers, cousins?"

"Spouses." Drick informed him loftily.

"Uh… what did you say your names were? Tick and Tock?"

"I am _Drick_, and he is _Drock_."

Hogarth raised a finger before giving them both a mock courteous grin. "And _I _am out of here." he whirled around to face an arm-crossed Taylor. "Hey Taylor, in case you haven't noticed…"

"People are homosexual in the future, Hogarth." She explained in a whisper. "It's a norm."

_How can I accept men not accepting their manhood!_ When he looked up he made contact with the Giant's steady eyes, and was reminded then of what it meant to be ostracized. Hogarth held up his hand to Drick in the customary shake then. "All right, like it or not, I can tolerate it."

The man seemed unbothered either way and slid his fingers through Hogarth's. However, as the Giant bent down to offer his gray-capped finger, Drock lowered down his hand hesitatingly at it.

"Hey," Hogarth said a little tersely, tightening his finger lock and causing Drick to grit his teeth in slight pain. "If I accept you guys as you are, than you have to accept my friend here or no dice."

They looked to one another as if they shared a secret, and Drock certainly planted his palm up to the Giant's finger tip. He and Hogarth shared a mutual look of minor victory. There was then a large blaring noise as a few members of the Council, Archer, a long span of yellow-uniformed men and Daniel Barnes came to the center of attention across the auditorium. Hogarth took note that there was no longer any persons who wore the Omega purple jumpsuits, and he knew why. It no longer mattered to them, so long as they were being provided with sustenance and shelter.

Taylor couldn't keep the worry for her uncle and Trina down, this feeling was hardly assuaged when the sight of two of the Iron Giant clones came out. And, her heart pounded, the Motorix.

"Giant?" Taylor inquired up at him. The memory of that horrid show-down back in Washington D.C. resurfaced, as well as the heart-clenching one of the clones holding back the Giant's arms.

"It's all right." Hogarth wrapped an arm around her shoulders securely and placed a hand to the Giant's ankle side, gazing up at him solemnly. "Are you up to working with the Motorix, Giant?"

The iron colossus uttered not a word from his mandible, but continued to stare forward as if he were seeing something they could not. Archer, originally from Washington D.C. , came to stand directly before the three a ways a way as Drick and Drock went over to a man with a shock of black hair and whiskers down passed his face; tension did not stop the benevolent lead scientist.

"Friends," He announced as he had that first day in the city, his voice carried as unseen but very much heard amplifiers enhanced high into the acoustics. "And newly accepted comrades, which we have unfairly neglected for so long." Archer's shift from cheery to openly empathic came not without surprise from the onlookers. "Even in our Alpha quarters we were blinded by our work.

I have spoken with many and, as it is done in Garth Hughes's time," he turned his eyes to meet the somewhat surprised young man's. "have taken into account all members of both sides to try and come up with negotiations to perform after my beloved daughter is stopped for a final time."

To everyone's amazement, the word 'beloved' came out in a suppressed near sob and at that moment Hogarth was further cued into the man's position. His earlier joke "_Flungadung_" and his resentment towards the young woman were burdens shoved aside by the unconditional love that Archer still held for his daughter. He wasn't surprised when the man re-met his azure eyes.

"If I may direct the spotlight onto you, what would you like to be called?"

"Hogaaarth." He covered his mouth as the sound was amplified to a ear-slicing screech, causing everyone to have to shield their ears. "Heh, sorry… thank you, Archer." Hogarth looked back at his friends who nodded him on encouragingly and stepped more into the auditorium's center.

"Everyone, I guess I can't say much except for the truth. When we first came here I thought it was to a planet that wasn't, well, Earth. Imagine my surprise when I found out." he rubbed the back of his neck before saying. "The real, true reason I came here was because I wanted to see the Giant through saving whatever needed to be saved, and I think Taylor had that in mind too."

There were murmurs of mixed opinions at his admission; Hogarth tried to tune out their rumors.

"You do play a part in this Mr. Hogarth." The man with ebony hair told him, his voice was deep and charismatic in authority as it rose with his turn to speak. "I am the Chief of droid operators and, with the permission of the Council and past historians, am here to tell you in response to all

Your questions that you are in deed important in all of this." Hogarth rubbed at the red-umber goatee out of habit, surprised momentarily by the lack of straggly fuzz. "Why you were not ever meant to come here Hogarth, you are in fact a very vital part of the nuclear transmutation cycle."

_Finally, answers_. He knew if he had been patient enough eventually he would know. "How?"

The retired veteran had seen many things and felt many devastating losses, but nothing had been more affecting then the last eight months of his life. Daniel Barnes looked across the way to see the thirsting look that was on his former pupil's face, and he knew he had to deliver a solid job.

"Mr. Hughes, um, Hogarth," Daniel took a few steps forward. "Do you recount when you were sent that last artifact by the United States general as a memento after that one certain incident?"

It was obvious that the determination for knowledge was waning on his face. "What about it?"

As Archer stepped forward to speak, Daniel reached out and clasped a somewhat firm grasp on the older man's shoulder. "Since we have little time, it may be best just to get to the point."

"Right, well. Hogarth, as long a stretch as it is, while you were never meant to be here in the future we do owe you much." He smiled understandingly at his confused look. "You see, your organic DNA signature was the most prominent on the Giant's inorganic metal skin. To sum it up, the nuclear components acted as a sort of bonding barrier and was the bases for modern-."

"Wait!" Hogarth waved his hands up, openly displaying his disbelief. "Time out! Are you saying I'm some sort of alchemist?" He and Taylor exchanged incredulous looks. "Look, your official nesses. This is a subject that's better left for you guys unless you have solid evidence to show."

Daniel Barnes folded his arms and met the Giant's eyes, who had been concentrating heavily on his clones. "Iron Giant, would you mind popping out a screw and handing it down to Hogarth?"

Curiously, he placed his fingers down to his hip-region and popped out a screw. The Giant sent him a 'just-go-with-it' expression and Hogarth skeptically took it. In a few short seconds came the unmistakable bleeping of the bulbous top as it noisily started to try and roll back to its home.

"_Yes,_" Hogarth rolled his eyes slightly. "This is what happened when I first got the screw back, it was a really neat thing to occur but now it's over with and the Giant is pieced back together."

His robotic friend turned concerned by his sarcasm as he reached down to re-take the screw.

"Wait." The chief droid suddenly interrupted. "If you do not know believe us, try the procedure out and transform that screw into the miniature version of what you know to be helicopters. The Fe agents in your bloodstream will naturally respond and react to this droid's own iron agents."

_I liked it better when science facts were science fiction_. "I studied Chemistry…"

"And three hundred years of research and experimenting have happened since then."

"This is incredible!" Hogarth exclaimed, but hastened to say. "You really expect me to believe I am actually the pioneer for transforming robots, that when the Giant collided with, dear God…"

"They do." Came the resigned baritone voice. He tilted his dome head to see if Hogarth would say anymore on the matter concerning the missile, but the young man fastened his eyes forward.

"As we will be eating soon, you will be served much more potent tofu and then you will follow us to meet others across the globe." The chief of operators smiled beneath his beard. "You did not think we ate tasteless excuses for food because we are all embittered." he darkened his tone to a foreboding one. "If you think you have seen all of our future, just wait a little longer to see."

"No." Hogarth retorted in announcement. "I'm not waiting to find out what's fact and fiction in this world anymore." he stepped over to face the Giant's wondering white eyes, closed his own to picture something, tapped his head and then tapped his chest. A whirring noise filled his ears.

"I think I'll pass on being transmuted into a helicopter." He also heard the Giant mention.

Hogarth peeked an eye open at him and grinned slightly, no matter how bizarre things turned out the two of them would face them together. The Giant lifted his left shutter to humor the teenager.

"Is that why the screw waited so long to activate?" Hogarth asked the lead Alpha scientist.

"That is correct, it began to become active at your touch." It looked like he had more to say.

"We have an estimate on the number of Alpha teenagers who sacrificed their lives." Archer told them solemnly, all traces of kidding around evaporated. "Three-thousand of fourteen-thousand have made it." he dropped his head in reverence as well as did everyone else. The Giant looked over to Hogarth who gripped Taylor's hand tightly, and knew that they'd have to talk things out

After an hour of briefing, and they were informed they would take an entirely separate route in a total of four days, the entirety of the auditorium congregation was free to eat. While others made rendezvous points in the large room at where to meet, Taylor, Hogarth and the others didn't find that to be very necessary. The Giant was combing around a collection of metal that surprisingly was not liquefied when a black-shelled, silver hand reached for the piece he'd had his sights on.

He was ready to address the Motorix with a warning look, recalling the hostile encounters he'd endured with it and Trant, but when the more seasoned and experienced of the two met eyes he saw something that cast him into wonder. The Motorix's green eyes were wide with hungriness.

Not just for metal, but for something to do. In those short, few moments the Giant saw what he was a lot of times forced to forget or shove aside. The fact that inside there was a large part of him that yearned for exploration and discovery, but also a place to belong to and be accepted.

"You eat?" It asked him in the Ominish language that span all languages, dialects and words.

"No." The Giant raised it over to him, saying graciously. "_You _eat."

Once everyone had gotten more situated, long, half-opened cylinders (troughs Hogarth thought) opened up with food on both sides of the auditorium. He was glad to see the Giant being able to eat _real _food, and was content himself with the tasteless tofu sandwiches and health fruit drinks.

"So, Inx," Hogarth began to prod the Asian man who leafed through a variety of differing tastes in tofu cuisine, lounging back. "What crackdown can you give me on Drickery and Drockery?"

He literally prodded Hogarth in the forearm to keep quiet. "It is really not my place, but if you most be more detailed Drick and Drock are the most capable to control such complex droid configurations. That is their _job _as it were if you ask me, but what should I expect since they-."

The look across Inx's face made Hogarth raise a brow and frown sideways. "You okay, man?"

"Well, it is best you find out in due time. As it were, you will be expected to follow under their guardianship and as well as the Giant's." He smiled purposefully at Hogarth's widening frown. "When the two of you were joking about _young wards_, you weren't that far from the target."

This made the seventeen-year-old burst out in laughter. "I've really gotta watch what I say…" he sighed then, revealing a part of him disliked the watch dog treatment. "You know, I would always joke with my step-father about Shakespearean references and things like that." Inx paid him more mind. "And there was this one quote from Julius Caesar about men who acted like

A colossus." he swerved his eyes to the yellow-suited men and the Councils. "And then to the men who worked like underlings." Hogarth let his gaze then travel to meet with Inx's pointedly.

The man held the younger man's eyes and then directed him to look at the Giant. "And then, my friend. There are actual colossuses who feel so sight worthy they do not even wish to be what you would call an underling." Inx moved on to let Hogarth ponder on the meaning of his words.

He looked over at the Giant meditatively and felt a small stab of sadness as he realized the _sight worthy _position ran deeper than he had ever imagined. For the first time in a long time, Hogarth felt all concern for himself leave as he watched his friend avoid stepping on any random persons.

Now he had another reason for wanting to be the lion instead of the mouse; to place the masses of attention and burden on himself. _Maybe naming him the Iron Giant was just too obvious_.

"Of course I like it better than Fred…" Hogarth said in a lame attempt to cheer himself up.

Taylor gave Inx's hand a friendly squeeze and smiled up at the Giant as he bent down to her. "I guess this is it." she said in a breathy voice, trying to keep the sadness pinching her throat at bay as he stroked her cheek with his thumb slightly. "At least we'll see each other after this is over."

He didn't seem to hear her words as he grazed her body with his eyes, sweeping every edge of detail. "For now." The Giant said after a while, though Taylor didn't know if he meant it or not.

"Take care of everyone, and don't be afraid to…" The girl nodded sideways over at Hogarth as he was talking with Archer and a few of the droid operators. "When the time is right, Giant."

"Take care of yourself, Taylor Erika Roberta Evans Robinson." She touched his finger as it slid away from her, smiling at his fast-paced good-bye. "Whoa!" There was suddenly a jiggle from the Pygmy Giant orb across her stomach, and they watched as tong-like hands emerged out of the top. Taylor started to slide it off when the point of the top reached up and stroked her arm.

"You didn't have to do this." The Giant said, a little caution in his voice. "There's no telling."

"Maybe all they need is a motherly touch." She told him and grasped the retractable flat arm.

After telling Inx and Taylor good-bye, Hogarth made it over to Tress. "Well, little bud." he knelt down to the child's level who obviously tried to wear a brave face, mussing his light blonde hair affectionately. "I guess you know what this means." Tress nodded with his gray eyes cast down.

"I'll miss you too…" He said softly.

"Here," Hogarth shoved the comic book back under his nose. "For when you turn thirteen."

"But that's six years from now." Tress complained. He received a mock slug under the chin and a wink. "Trust me," Hogarth glanced over as Drick and Drock were approaching the enormous wasp-waisted robots, pecking each other's cheeks. "You'll thank me for the confidence boost."

Hogarth and Ven met eyes. "Guess this is it, Ven." he held his palm out flat and his fingers in a spread so that the fourteen-year-old could lace his in for the Omega handshake. Ven chuckled and touched both of his wrists together so that his fingers were both in up and down positions.

"Don't forget about us too soon."

Hogarth smiled at both brothers, than over at Taylor and started out to see the Giant. But as he went, Hogarth didn't see that Ven took the comic book from Tress and opened it up. His brown eyes widened in excitement and he tried scrupulously to slid what was beneath it into his pants.

"A-hem." Taylor cleared her throat, sending the teenager a suspicious look. He did it anyway.

The Motorix stood to the furthest edge of the open auditorium, it's two clone cousins were in the center and the Giant stood at the back. Macktan, the name of the chief droid operator, rose his hand up and pushed down on a palm-held joystick. The Motorix's eyes lit brighter as it bent down to allow it's programmer a hands-up. Drick and Drock followed this procedure to a key.

Hogarth had his arms folded and was shaking his head. As the yellow-jumpsuit clad threesome were chattering with one another, he and the Giant met eyes as he came up with a raised brow.

"Permission to come aboard, mon capitaine Giant?" Hogarth inquired in a suave tone.

He cocked his head in question.

"You're supposed to say 'permission granted'." Hogarth gestured at him, speaking normally.

The Giant placed a hand to his hip and sent him a 'get-real' look.

This made Hogarth change his tactic. "May I please have a lift up, Giant?"

"Yes, you may." He replied much more permissibly.

In that moment, the realization that they were finally going to team up again dawned on them. Wonderfully elated looks crossed both Hogarth and the Giant's faces as he lowered his hand down and the young man was suddenly transformed into a kid again. However, the onlooker's expressions froze him from dashing forward. Taking a quick breath, Hogarth strode forward in what he hoped was a professional-looking stride. But it was inevitable that they both stood out.

"Ah, the hell with it." Hogarth shook his head and ran to board the Giant's hand. He left out the front-flip part but was met with the robot's enthusiastic eyes as well. The air around him gave a _whoosh_ as he and the Giant went to full height. The moments of past tension and separation in that moment melted away as they started out to stand in an arc of sun-filtered open, windy sky.

"It's good to have you aboard, first mate Hogarth." The Giant told him, a hearty pitch to his baritone voice. They let their brief moment of togetherness linger back as Hogarth let his gaze wander over to see that the Giant's clones were clad in over-lapping yellow-covered armory.

"Good call on eighty-sixing the matching cover-alls." He mentioned to the Giant and nodded with approval down at the gilded 'S'. "That's all the superhero identity you need to display."

"Hogarth," The Giant suddenly became nervous, scratching at his tubular ringed neck. "Later-."

They were suddenly cut off by the Motorix leering across the way at them, Macktan had his back turned to them and was conversing with someone over a communicator. It's head was in resemblance to the Giant's, but it's intent green eyes were slowly shifting around into smoggy orbs of black. Hogarth backed up a little and even the Giant instinctively rose his hand to block.

The Motorix's eyes locked onto the 'S' insignia. "Trant's orders…" it groaned out and then in a roar exclaim. "Destroy Garth Hughes!" It's eyes rotated into a fixated cast of dark necromancy.

The Giant swerved on his heel to avoid a harsh, and of course silent, energy blast that propelled across the two other clones. He felt his own laser eyes rebuke with an involuntary jerk and gave into them - allowing them to shoot out into the open air. Hogarth lay flat on his back with wide eyes and his heart thundering inside of his chest. Moments ago it seemed they had both been in a state of almost bliss at the idea of being at each other's side again, now that feeling was gone.

Hogarth felt his heavy breathing catch inside of his throat as the Giant examined him with blaring red eyes, and the intensity of that moment where Hogarth had been a target resurfaced again. It was only compounded when the Motorix lifted it's suddenly barreled arm up, the chief operator had managed to make a break for it, and two droids and three humans were left in the crossfire.

To be continued…


	30. Pt 5: A family is born: Pt 3 of 3

I.

December 14th 1964…

Strings of partially burnt kernels were strung around an artificial tree in the McCoppin household, hand-painted ornaments and glistening balls with silver hooks clung rather precariously from the faux pine needle branches. Julie peered around the big base of it to take in her father, wearing his oversized reindeer sweater, as he twisted on a bright angel.

_Just like Mama_. The child thought wistfully. Dean caught sight of her sneaking a peek at him before she ducked away, gasping. He chuckled lightly and made no move after her as she pushed herself forward on her crutches, leaning over lazily so she lay against his leg.

"How do you like our new tree?"

"It doesn't smell like the ones we usually chop down." Julie mentioned to him.

"Well," Dean flashed her down a wide smile, his eyes reflecting tiny gold dots. "We just have to make the best of it." He boosted her up in his arms and they gazed at the tree with one another. "The Rhinestiens are coming over here and most of our other friends, baby."

Julianne didn't smile, which was very uncommon for her around Christmas time. Instead, she seemed to be picturing something strange in her mind. "I'm telling Jesus what I want for Christmas." She told her father finally. "And I can't tell you or it may not come true."

"You already have your two front teeth." Dean told her and eyed his daughter tentatively.

"It's not that, Daddy." Julie laughed liltingly. She looked up at the tree, eyes mesmerized.

_Please send Mama to help Hogarth home_.

II.

2201 of that same date…

Pandemonium ensued as the Motorix went berserk, the clones looked at each other with confused looks and the Giant released Hogarth back down to the ground. The two didn't have to have words to communicate a need to regain order. A majority of the people were piloted out of the auditorium's inner wings as the Giant latched onto the Motorix's large silver-black arms, and Hogarth ran with a wheezing Drick and Drock over to two vacant escape pods. Not bothering to worry if they had asthma, he thrust the pair into the doors.

Hogarth and Taylor met eyes as she lingered back. He motioned her and kept his distance as he rushed back to stay on the outer brim of the two wrestling robots. Incredibly for the first time since their trip, she complied and headed for the outside opening of the hallway.

The Motorix was trying to unleash a volley of it's laser eye beams, but the Giant had its cannoned arms inside a tight pretzel hold. It kept struggling to get to Hogarth and as it was kneed down in the back by the more strong-willed Giant, its eyes focused up on the insignia of its odd bane. The Motorix reached a hand up to yank it off, but was caught mid-reach by its original's solid iron hand. Not as strong as its original, it was secured.

"I don't think so." He said in a gruff voice, wrenching the arm down. There seemed to be a seething going on inside of the robot, it wriggled around in a frustrated attempt to get at the Giant. "Settle down…" its brethren tried to order it between clenched teeth. "Stop it."

At a presumably safe distance, Hogarth made sure that he was parallel with his friend's enormous heel in case he could get in and the two could possibly transmute. Even as he still opposed it as demeaning, the idea itself in the forefront of his mind was springing a very clear message across: A trump card. The young man raced over so that he was still a distance back, but this time making eye-contact with the Giant's shutter-narrowed optics.

When he saw Hogarth, the robot sent him a strained look and nodded indicatively to run.

But he argued back by thumping his head and chest with his front fist. What Hogarth saw next made him sweat a little, the Motorix swiveled its dome head around on its neck axis.

"Giant, look out!"

The automaton let out a huffy gasp and bent his entire wasp-waisted body back to rest on slightly shaky octagonal-enclosed arms. He tried shoving his knee into his over-glossed counterpart's abdomen, but the Motorix's laser beams shot clear over him. Voices cried as the building shook. Hogarth took that opportunity to race over to the Giant's side, he stood there with a widely unsure look on his face as he and the robot took in one another.

"It isn't about fighting solo." The words fell out candidly. "It's still about trust, isn't it?"

In a show of defiance at that statement, the Giant reached out to accept Hogarth's earlier offer with a resolutely receptive look in his eyes. The man recognized this right away and backed up, hard-pressed to perform this most strange of transformations if they were not on the same wavelength. Instant regret stemmed through Hogarth as the Motorix lashed out and curbed its beetle armor-shelled fingers into the 'S' before giving it a jerking rip.

"Ugh!"

The Giant's eyes reverted to red once more and he had to snap his iron lids shut, but the transformation of dread was well under way. However, the weapons didn't just whip out like normal. But instead, slowly and with agonizing change, his arms protruded out into a much larger trident and cannon than he had remembered. Even as he tried resisting all the pressures to change, the Giant still felt his chest cavity open and those awful, wormy-type of projectiles sprouting from his large shoulders. The Motorix seemed to watch patiently.

The Giant's earlier show of kindness felt meaningless, and he flexed his aching arms.

"_You_…" He seethed. When it lifted its barrel up, the Iron Giant shouldered forcefully into the creature. Hogarth was making a run for the exit as the Motorix was trying to jerk in his direction, they were nearly right on top of him when a figure ran by and struck him.

The mint-green suited individual tackled Hogarth to the ground, but Hogarth grabbed the other man's arms and gained control of their rolling session across the floor. They soon found themselves at a standstill and a harried-looking Inx was poised over the teenager.

"Garth…" he breathed heavily, a grimace creased into his face. "If you die, I'm jobless."

"Inx," His breathe came out half-surprised, half-appreciatively. The two stood up to see that the auditorium, aside from the skirmishing, titanic robots, was cleared. But when the very over-worked Hawaiian man tried to run with Hogarth, he was wheeled back on over.

"I won't leave the Giant." There came his toneless reply. He started to run for them when he was wheeled back himself to face an oddly accepting Inx. "Take care of Taylor if I--."

"I won't because you aren't going to die." The older man hurled him forward. "_Go_!"

Hogarth nodded and took off to the Giant, thankful that his friend was open to the idea of transmuting but exceedingly worried of doing it in his self-defense state. He swallowed a bad taste in his mouth back, a metallic-kind of flavor, and stopped short when he saw that the Giant was still straining against his weapons. _Dear, God. Something just isn't right_…

The grey automaton was struggling for control, something that hadn't appeared to be an issue three-hundred years earlier. Hogarth kept out of the Motorix's sight, which seemed to observe the Giant in cold calculation as it stood back, he felt stupid, pained and useless toward the awful change this transformation seemed to work. Unlike the last time a ten –year-old Hogarth had seen it, the Giant's self-defense programming appeared to have all of the control. Knowing he faced death, and a child without a father, he sprinted forward.

"Giant!" Hogarth waved his arms around to distract him from his tortured transformation.

"_Ho-garth_…" The Giant groaned out painfully.

"Listen to me," His voice came out loud and prominent, trying to not let his face appear strained at his inability to act any more then this. "Focus on _me_." Hogarth pointed right at himself with no care if the Motorix saw him. "You can overcome this, Giant, but you've _got _to remember who you are and why you're doing this. Come on, you can beat this…"

Predictably, whatever momentary civilized behavior left the Motorix and the rogue mode programming began acting up the moment it saw its primary target. The Giant tried to get between the two, but Hogarth never moved from the Giant's line of hurting, crimson eyes which were gearing up for a second rotary blast as the Motorix held it's barrel up to them.

"_No, stop…"_ His voice held a begging note in it.

"Giant!" Hogarth practically yelled at the top of his lungs. "Come on! You might be iron but you have a heart of gold and a will of steel. Like the man of steel, like _Superman_!" he hollered as loud as his voice would travel, trying with all he had. "Giant, fight it! _Fight_…"

At the last moment, two of the Giant's clones seized back the Motorix and the Giant was able to swerve just enough so his second laser attacks were traveling at rapid-fire speed to the huge archway of the auditorium. He was allowed one less burden now, but this didn't keep his weapons from charging up. The Giant and Hogarth made eye contact once more.

~_~_~_~

"We still have control of the other two clones." Came the relieved announcement.

The yellow-suited operators quietly and in precise calculation worked to try and recover whatever control they could on the Motorix's programming. It had been very difficult to re-program the three massive droids as they did not have the exact linking epidermal and other special bonding agents as the original programmer: Trant. They TCT-ed on separate lines as they went over blueprints, unaware of their leader and top adviser's conversation.

_Brilliant_. Macktan thought to his subdominant. _That crustation – modeled hero so many heralded is the last one you would expect to become infected by a virus_. _At this rate the Council will have to allow us to disable Mr. Giant of iron to prevent any further panic._

The younger man smiled sideways. _And such unethical mannerisms such as droids being equal to us will be a thing of the 'past_'. He suppressed a snigger but gasped. _Sir, there is a third party on our line!_ They cancelled out their channel, but didn't let their faces slip.

"Sir," One of the uniformed men interrupted. "This is serious, not only is it odd enough that the droid possesses human-like qualities but the Iron Giant seems to be losing most of his control." The sable-haired man eyed him in surprise; his voice rang a note of pity.

"I informed you this would be a risk when 7000's weapons were regenerated." Macktan told him without concern, as if it were nothing. "You must disconnect him immediately."

"I am afraid as a citizen and proprietor of this land, we cannot."

"Do you know?" He turned his back to the annoyingly worried worker and to the only other man he hoped was around who knew of his plans, the advisor shook his head with a wild expression of disbelief on his face. They thought their plan to operate the legions of Iron Giant copies would go off well because of their contributing image in the public eye.

As the two strode over and shoved a few befuddled operators out of the way, Mr. Daniel Barnes came around the corner and adjusted an ear piece situated in his lobe a bit shakily.

~_~_~_~

Taylor and Inx watched with pain-filled expressions from far on the other end of the very spacious auditorium, Ven had Tress partway inside a brown-encased escape pod. No one knew what to say or do as the madness ensued. A wobble trembled in Taylor's throat and she felt a sob swell up, but glancing over to the wide-eyed child made her choke it down.

"We can't wait around." She told Inx firmly and he nodded at her. They and Ven were about to send Tress down when the shuttle was found empty. "Tress, no! You can't do-."

"Tress!" Ven raced for his brother but Inx caught him, tossed him in an escape pod, gave the button a push and he was gone. But it was too late as the blue-suited blonde boy already was too far out to get. Inx didn't have to touch Taylor. for once she stayed still as a rock.

"I have our baby to think of." Her arms cradled the Giant's orb.

"Good Goddard." Inx slapped face with his hand and shook his head

"Tress, honey!" Taylor tried once more to call him.

~_~_~_~

He turned at the words 'Tress, honey', they fogged Hogarth's oceanic-colored eyes and suddenly exhilaration from another time ripped through his lungs. Thick fog from years past engulfed all around him as he raced toward the Giant in battle mode. His mother's voice shouted clearly through his mind 'Hogarth, _no!_' like a phantasm of realization. He turned from a still struggling Giant to see Tress sprinting foward, his eyes burning hard.

"Hogarth, why won't you let me be a hero!?" The small boy demanded of him.

"Tress…" Hogarth felt stricken with fear and let that be his motivation to start for Tress.

"No, Garth Hughes!" He ambled back, tears evident in his stubborn gaze. "Why can't I?"

"Because you can't, Tress!" He balked out at the child in a reprimanding shout. "You-."

The color draining from Tress's face made him turn around and see that the Motorix had successfully caught the clones in a neck hold. They wriggled around as the loose cannon robot aimed an arm for Hogarth, but in his upward hold had it aimed just a head too high for him. In that moment, the man raced forward and shielded Tress with his entire body.

"Are we gonna die, Hogarth?" He asked in a sniffling voice.

"I don't know, you believe in God right?"

"Yeah."

Tears christened in his own eyes briefly. "Then we'll be fine." He hugged Tress to him.

"I think I see a woman…. She's got brown hair and green eyes and-and she's smiling."

"Just hang on, little buddy."

"Giant! Tell him to stop! Tell him about souls! Tell him about God!"

Hogarth held the boy tighter to himself. "_God_, Tress…" He positively reaffirmed the boy.

"God?" The Motorix was distracted at this and suddenly its fiery green eyes went out. At that moment the Giant was able to intercede himself. Hogarth didn't bother looking back and took off with Tress in his arms; the boy fought the man's grasp to go the other way.

"Hogarth, no! Stop! Giant, he's still back there!"

"_Stop the car…"_ His mind played as he kept running.

"We've got to go back for him!" Tress nearly wailed. Hogarth still ran for a waiting Inx.

_"Go back! We gotta help him!" _The young boy in Hogarth's mind demanded.

Once they hit bodies, Inx took up Tress and headed in the other direction. Hogarth went the other way again but paused after seeing the two Iron Giant clones were deactivating, his own friend lumbered around toward the back with his weapons locking and loading.

"Tress." He directed his eyes into the boy's, relaxing his clenched jaws when hope came tingling into his charge's smoky pupils. "You _can _be a hero; you've just got to know the right time to be one." Hogarth shot Inx a confident grin and picked up the pace as he ran for the Giant, ignoring the mix of glares and stares the droid operators sent towards him.

Great concern re-manifested itself inside of him as he made a clean arc to face the Giant now. He lowered his front shutters and nodded for Hogarth to leave. The weapons were brimming with the yet un-fired attacks, plasma cannons were at their peak for unleashing and the green-electrode power of the trident sizzled with anticipation to begin vaporizing.

"Go." This was the one show of opposition on the Giant's part.

"Just focus on me." Hogarth told him in calm defiance. "If I'm the one tangible thing that can keep you from hurting yourself or others, then so be it." He kept a fair distance so the Giant could see him, and even then he knew he couldn't blame his friend if he was killed.

They circled one another cautiously so that the sunlight was directly on them; the feelings that arose between them were still aggravatingly mixed. For no matter how close they still wanted to be and despite their ease at messing around with one another, the rift that existed between them that had become apparent eight months earlier was still there.

Hogarth almost couldn't breathe for the heaviness that descended upon him; he truly did hate not being able to break the barrier that kept them distanced. And the Giant, even as he stood shakily with only a thread of control, appeared much attuned to the broken pieces of their once carefree kinship. Both wanted to move forward, but time and all of those ill consequences their bond had brought kept them from trying to leap this huge road block.

"With your consent," A voice suddenly intervened; it was loud, a bit falsely sympathetic and formal. "We could temporarily disconnect you as well, provided you stop all further resistance, and reboot you. However, you _must _consent to it." The man was young and a tad timid. Hogarth bit his tongue to keep from protesting, but the Giant took instant relief.

"If it stops me from hurting-."

"Sir," He interrupted, his voice more grave now. "The side-effects will be heavy, you… you will have a completely clean slate. Memories, daily routines will all be wiped away."

"To hell with that plan then!" Hogarth could barely keep himself from snarling.

"Hogarth," The Giant looked at him with his overbearing resolve. "If it's the only…"

"I've seen that look in your eyes before." He picked up where the Giant trailed off in a moment of hesitation, averting to keep the hurt from showing in his own. "But, if you-."

"Looking at me," The Giant cut him off this time, his mind unmade as he avoided testing some waters he would try treading later. "What do you see…?" His shutters grew inward into a questioning statement, but the undercurrent of his true wonderment was accessible.

It was to Hogarth, at least.

"Looking at you," He gave a fair survey of the looming automaton, and stated matter-of-factly. "I see a land-based, mobile weapon made for destroying all attacks." As that sank in and the Giant seemed to take this as Hogarth's acceptance to authority, he kept talking.

"But there's a difference in what I see and what I _know_." His own personal resolution and commitment showed as he came up to the base of the Giant's leg, laying a hand against his front ankle as he kept wholehearted eye contact. "I know your still in there, buddy."

The operator was all but forgotten as the two slowly made their way toward the immending archway of the auditorium, Hogarth staying in the Giant's line of vision as they carefully approached it. Even as the weapons surged with power, twitching with itchy trigger arms to be used, that did not deter the slow, simple progress that they were beginning to make.

"They'll either have to fire or power down eventually." Hogarth told him reasonably, his hands making small motions so the Giant wouldn't get overwhelmed with the few ounces of control he did have. "Aside from shooting, what's the worse your weapon could do?"

"Implode," The Giant said figuratively, but he didn't sound upset.

Hogarth remained unaffected by this as well as he maintained his constant motioning, the two were completely immersed now to see if their bond could override the rogue weapons once and for all. It seemed impossible, but between the two they mustered a gradual faith.

As they reached the edge, the Giant still hadn't transformed back. His entire body shook with the force of the withheld weaponry, but the sight of Hogarth kept him from elapsing in to total hopelessness like last time. Even in the literal face of a grim outlook, there was no alteration of belief on the young man's face. It was set in a firm and undoubting way.

"Keep holding out," He coached.

Then, with the sounds of droid operators clamoring up from behind, the Giant's weapons gradually receded back into the base of themselves. There was a very collected stifling of breathe as the Giant's eyes smoothed back into a calm but weary white, guns reverted back into his body and he was left to crouch down unsteadily on a pair of barely bendable legs.

Hogarth was the only one to keep his breathing even, and they were the only two who did not wear relief-induced looks or ones that suggested intolerance for having resisted the preferred, standard procedure. Instead, Hogarth waited for him to look up before he went forward with that same firm, flat-lined expression to explain the necessity of cooperation.

Before this could happen, Hogarth suddenly found himself loosing balance and almost in a second was going back-first through the opening. The Giant recovered enough from his exhaustion to reach out quickly and cup the young man before he plummeted downwards.

Hogarth shut his eyes and squeezed his fists together. "Am I dead yet?"

"Not on my watch." He heard the Giant answer in his baritone voice.

"Well, maybe if we could find you a big enough watch…" When Hogarth let an eye open he saw that the Giant's expression wasn't an amused one. He felt his slight joke fall short.

As he was returned to stand before him, there was still something the Giant didn't accept.

"You should have escaped with the others." He tried futilely to argue.

Hogarth didn't feel out-of-sorts; he knew the Giant just didn't want to appear like he was not in control. It was just something that came naturally from depending on yourself. He explained calmly. "That's what a real family does, Giant. You don't leave them behind."

The dawning of realization surprised him, his mandible opening a bit. He looked over to notice that Taylor, Inx, and little Tress had not left. When he and Taylor met eyes, she let a truthful smile cross her face and nodded as she stroked the golden orb once. The Giant looked at Tress uncertainly; hoped the display didn't leave the boy in question of heroes.

Again.

"It's okay, Giant. I still like you even if you aren't perfect." He told him honestly.

Slowly, and gratefully, he turned back around. "Thank you, Hogarth."

His friend smiled only slightly, raising a hand up. "Don't thank me." He put it to his side. "But next time don't tell me to off when I try to help you, okay?" The Giant gave a willful nod.

"Help me up?" He lowered himself inches before Hogarth's face, his palm flat out.

The teen crossed his arms and closed his eyes. "Sure, pal, I'll help you up." He looked up and pushed upon the Giant's mandible with his foot. "By helping you help yourself up… you overgrown lug nut, you." Hogarth chuckled as he worked out invisible kinks in it before receiving a glare and a small push with the Giant's finger tip to his chest center.

Both started shoving gently around a bit, much to the chagrin of the droid operators who were busily deliberating amongst themselves, but after a minute their antics ceased as the Giant let his hand drape over Hogarth. He pushed up on it but didn't let go of it until it was on the ground. The Giant watched as he climbed up and bent down to rest his hand on it, keeping direct eye contact with him. As he did this the robot got into a similar pose.

"When I said I would to do whatever it took to make it up to all of you, I meant it. And I'll keep meaning it." Hogarth told him steadily, his marvel-worthy devotion came shining through as clearly as the daylight that signaled them more then ever to take flight.

The Giant moved a hand behind Hogarth, fisted the hand he sat on and rose with him. An unmistakable glint of appreciation enraptured his white eyes momentarily. They then both turned together as one to face the remaining world and whatever consequences would follow.

And as it would turn out, the Shakespearean quote used to persuade Brutus to give in and betray Julius had no effect. Now the long-time friends were set to take on the rest of Rome.

To be continued…


	31. Pt 6: Take off

"That was the most negligent display I have ever seen!" A Council member exploded.

"Not to mention the utter lack of conduct…"Another mentioned.

Drick and Drock suddenly emerged from behind the Councilors; their commander chief was frantically searching through a holographic database for his own private reasons as the friction was still flying. The more vocal of the two top droid users now fumed with a hot look on his face, which rapidly reddened as he stormed up to Hogarth and the Giant.

"Do you have any idea of close you rookies came to compromising this mission!?" The two looked at each other regretfully, even as they knew their 'team' mates were a little on the strange side. "Hogarth, since no one else will say it: _I _will. You are far too personable with that droid; you should not be able to transmute it when its configuration manna is-."

"Hey, whoa, whoa. Back up… you all are claiming I'm the founder of transmutation."

"I was out of line there. But still, we do not know how unstable its programming is."

"_He _just lost control there for a minute." Hogarth cut him off, keeping his tone firm and even. "And we may be beginners, but _you _and Drock are supposed to help us manage it."

"Droid's do not even have genders!" The twenty-something man cried out.

The Giant gave Hogarth a questioning look. "I wonder how you can tell that…"

But he wasn't in a trivial mood as he pointed a finger down at Drick. "Just because you have balls on the outside, that doesn't mean you have them on the inside." He informed.

That quickly halted Drick's tirade, Archer and the lead Council (who'd been up until that point absent) appeared with two average-sized droids. Martukus, who'd been a condoner of Hogarth not long ago, now stood with a rather impressed expression upon his old face.

"Never before have I seen a more marvelous display of teamwork."

The hardened look on Hogarth's face lessened a bit. "That's what we do." He said warily.

"But I do take the blame." The Giant intervened, his white eyes reflecting regret.

"You shouldn't pin it on yourself like this, Iron Giant." Hogarth advised him.

"I'm the one who rejected that suit of armor." He explained forwardly, turning to look at the droid operators, the Council and anyone else within range. "I put all of you in danger and I'm very sorry. Archer, if you still have it around would you mind letting me see it?"

This sincere display had them at a loss for words, but most only went back to solving the malfunction with the Motorix who was completely out-of-commission. The cloned robots were waiting patiently by as Drick and Drock reluctantly went back to work with the two.

As Hogarth went over to make sure that Taylor was all right, the Giant stepped aside to speak with a few stunned operators in the most humble of manners possible. Hogarth was ready to hear the third degree about child endangerment as Taylor ran up to him. He was surprised to be tilted back from her engulfing him in a wide embrace, the orb bulging in between. "_Never_," her voice was serious, but a bit wry also. "Put me through that again."

Hogarth cupped at her chin and moved back. "I would never intend to." He told her with regret, stroking a rough-skinned thumb down her cheek before enveloping her in another hug. "We're a family and after all of this is over with that will be our top priority in life."

"Just like it should be." Taylor said breathily as she held him closer to her.

"Well, well, it looks as if Inx finally found himself someone else to see for a while."

They both turned to see that a pretty young, lightly-blonde haired woman was speaking with a rather entranced-looking Inx, her arms draped around Tress's shoulders. As she did this a fifty-something, delusional-yet-pleasant-looking couple approached the three.

"You know, I don't think Inx has contacts with his real family. Maybe they'll work…"

"That's good," Hogarth commented gladly, slipping Taylor a sly look. "But I still have my sights set on twenty-twenty Taylor vision." She glared mock-dangerously at Hogarth.

"Oh you better, goggle-boy." Taylor took his and snapped them over his eyes. He gave a chuckle at that before pulling them out the length of her head and snapping them back so that the force pushed the two inward for a kiss. Tress stuck out his tongue, going "eugh".

Hogarth paused from lip-locking. "There's always the option of looking away."

"Hmm…" The Giant, who now sported the red-over-blue suit that contorted to most of his form, was knelt down with a musing look on his face as he admired his two friends.

"Like I said big guy," Hogarth glanced up. "There's always the option of looking away."

"I'm good." He waved them to continue, tugging at the suit where his shoulder was. The armor flared out in a few areas not unlike the Motorix; while it didn't give him a heavy-set appearance it did increase his upper-body bulk and made him appear more imposing.

Hogarth gave him a lenient head-to-toe look. "Look at this way, pal. No matter how you look at it, we're never going to pass as being related even when we look alike." He said.

"Do you have to make a joke for everything?" Taylor groaned slightly.

"Its how the Garth man gets by."

Daniel Barnes wound his way through the various people in blue and yellow uniforms to where Macktan and his assistant were engaging in another TTC conversation. He wanted to get some clear evidence that the two were conspiring against everyone, the button he'd found to be the record function was switched on when some static sizzled in his ear drum.

_I do not know who you are, _The black-bearded man's thoughts were disgruntled and very agitated. _But I know you are a part of some band of past people whose goal is to try and sabotage our plans. We do not know if you are further away from us or within range but_

_Let me tell you this. I could expose you in two seconds if I saw fit to it. Now then, you've no doubt learned the Giant of iron's orders to erase the memories of yours and the other past persons. Understand this, if you try to expose our intentions to the Council you will_

_Not only have your memories erased, but you will definitely never see your past again. If you value your relations back in the past, you will let us continue on with no interference._

Daniel disconnected his line and stood with a blank expression on his face. As he looked at Hogarth and the others together, he was reminded of his own days as a young man post-World War. He thought of his wife back in New Jersey and his children he hadn't seen in five years because of his undercover assignment into the investigation of the 1957 events.

And then he remembered Julianne. If he exposed the droid operators who wanted access to the clones, he knew he risked his own sanity. If he didn't, Julianne would possibly not ever see her brother again. The man watched as Hogarth boarded the Giant's hand again.

What about this robot? He was loyal, dedicated, and selfless with a sense of humor.

Hogarth? He was foolhardy, wisecracking, rebellious and infallibly generous and faithful.

_And __Taylor__…_ Daniel poised a finger over the button in consideration of Robert's niece.

The translucent, paper-thin handheld was instantly snatched away from him and his plugs were picked right from his ears. He turned instantly to face the person when a finger was placed to his lips. Trisha Evans placed the plugs in her ears and a finger up to her mouth.

When he tried to argue, she merely slipped back into the bustle of yellow-clad operators.

Daniel shook his head; the woman was going to risk her return for her daughter's safety.

"We are ready to try again." Archer announced to them all, his scientists and he were in the middle of collaborating with the droid operators to assure that the remaining clones' re-programming functioned. An assuring smile reached his weathered face. "As you will

See there are supplies at the back; food, clothing, bathing chambers, metal liquidizers and other various items." He turned to look specifically at Hogarth and the Giant. "You will need to make contact with these items in order to successfully bring them along. Hogarth, Giant, you will notice a cylindrical, pinkish device. That is a codified navigational map."

Hogarth noticed it as they backed up to an assortment of futuristic devices that rose from floor panels neatly accommodated. The Giant cocked his head a bit as he reached down for the item and handed it Hogarth between his fingers, sending him a curious look too.

"So," he began with interest. "What did you have in mind for transmuting me into?"

There was a small figure at the back of the supplies, slipping in something inconspiciously.

With a quick shifty-eye glance from side-to-side, Hogarth pulled out the sheet of paper he had sketched out from his imagination months ago; it hadn't been long after the facedown in the divided Washington D.C. The somewhat crumpled notebook paper had a design in a similar form to the Motorix's hover car only with less emphasis on appearing sporty. It basically had the details of a late fifties T-bird fused with the combinations of an airplane.

"It's what my grandfather on my mother's side would drive," He explained with enthuse to an intrigued-looking Giant. "And it's kind of hard to make out, but these flight details are from my father's early days in the USAF as a flight demonstrater before things grew more serious for him." Hogarth sighed wistfully. "So anyway, Giant, what'd you think?"

"Your father?" He probed; this was the first time during their short intervals together that Hogarth had ever mentioned his family other then his mother, Dean or little sister to him.

"Yes," His voice suddenly grew solemn, recalling. "Tomorrow will be the anniversary of the day my father was killed." He explained reverently. The Giant's eyes dimmed a little.

"I'm sorry, Hogarth."

Inspiration retook the momentary grief on Hogarth's face. "Well, doodling around helps me out during my rough times and it turned into a real hobby." He now grinned proudly, placing his hands on his hips. "Giant," He glanced down at the others. "Everyone. I'd like to introduce my offical transmutation creation: The T-Bird IG Double H. Supe de coupe."

"All… right…" Taylor tried to analyize it out. "The double H are your initials."

"Right," Hogarth nodded encouragingly. "And IG stands for Iron Giant."

"And Supe de coupe has something to do with Superman." The titular character said, his hand on his hip as he gave Hogarth an incredulously impressed look. "Or is it a soup…?"

"Nope, you had it right the first time."

"As impressive as it is," Drick suddenly stomped forward atop the Giant clone. "You will be required to transmute accordingly with us. We will transmute first and you'll copy us."

Hogarth tossed him a stiff glare. "You're _all _copies around here." But as the man left he saw that the Giant looked willing to oblige with this. "Giant, you can't really want to…"

"I don't." He admitted with a rough sigh. "But I didn't follow through with their orders once and look what happened." The Giant shook his large head. "We shouldn't test it."

"Oh, _come on_!" Hogarth scoffed exasperatingly. "It's called individuality." He stressed.

"There's nothing wrong with following the rules, Hogarth." The Giant argued patiently.

"To a point." He agreed. "But this absolute formation business is bull turd."

"It's _safe_."

"It's the 1950's traditionalism crossed with Russian communism!"

"Hogarth…"

"So much for 'you are who you choose to be' ." Hogarth fumed under his breath, but bit his tongue when he saw he'd gone a little too far. "All right. Let's play by the rules then."

The Giant gave him a grateful look. "For right now at least." He accepted the recovery.

Having plucked a wireless microphone and communicator from a busy operator, Daniel came to stand beside Macktan and his assistant as they were speaking in a complex droid terminology. Maintaining his guise, Dan reconnected to their conversing thought channel.

_… And once the metal man and Garth Hughes_ _have taken flight, we will re-start the virus inside of the transmuted droid. _The man leered off to his side at Daniel, intrigued if he'd take the bait or not. But all the fifty-six-year old man did was stand there motionless.

"Can I… help you?" Macktan inquired him.

"Why, no thank you." He smiled broadly, pushing down on the record button of his TTC rather smugly. "I'm just admiring how sufficiently you yellow-suits manage everything."

"Than you are from the past, I presume? One of Mr. Hughes's company?"

"I am, in fact." Daniel tossed his TTC clear over the heads of the two surprised men and over to Trisha who came to stand next to the Councils. "You may refer to me as Barnes."

Drick and Drock each executed a sequenced performance and the two towering robots of iron were molded into two ordinary, rather standard-looking hover crafts with yellowed-over armory. There was nothing particularly interesting about them; they were identical.

"All right." Hogarth said readily, tapping his heart and his forehead with his two fingers before holding a small flickering orb of blue out before him and the Giant. "I'm not at all sure how this works or why we were chosen, but I'm ready. Are you?" He asked, pivotal.

The robot nodded with a sure look and brought a grey-capped finger forward. Their digits touched and a spontaneous burst of light framed all corners of Hogarth's blue eyes, there came the metallic taste in his mouth again and he thought momentarily that he _was_ metal.

But like many months before, he found himself inside a seat. However, since the sun was streaming in through the open window shield Hogarth could make out a large panel board of flashing buttons, toggles, switches and levers. He felt the natural geek in him surfacing fast. Before he could touch anything, however, he noticed the cut on his arm was healed.

"Wow, it kind of adds to the extra terrestrial feeling." Hogarth reached out to tap a green toggle that glowed when a large, full-bodied neon blue image of the Giant stretched over the motherboard. As he did, a blue helmet with a red strip down the middle appeared out.

"Just in case." The Giant commented as Hogarth took it and attached the goggles to it.

"Never thought we'd do this again, huh pal?" He laughed a bit as he griped two handles.

"Hogarth…" They moved away from his hands. "Maybe its better that I fly myself."

"It would make more sense." Hogarth agreed and draped his arms over the back, that's when he caught the sight of the Twiddle twins eyeing them suspiciously through just over a ways. "Hey, Giant," he said quickly. "Would you mind letting me grasp them one sec?"

"Well, I kind of wanted them to-."

"Real quick." Hogarth urged him and clutched the handles with a wide grin plastered on his face as the Giant let them fall back into their original place. Drock turned to Drick and shrugged. Once the showing-off was over, Hogarth turned back to thank the Giant only to notice his blue image looking downcast. That's when understanding suddenly returned to him.

He cleared his throat to garner the Giant's attention as he turned back towards the others.

"What are you…?"

"Guys, _look_," Hogarth pointed at the panel. "The Giant's going to fly himself; no hands!"

They shook their heads in a _'_good grief _'_manner.

"Thanks, Hogarth." A baritone voice thanked him.

He winked at the Giant's tubular azure image. "Anytime, pal."

Their surroundings grew quiet as a deep rumbling took place; Hogarth felt the vibrations jiggling him as he sat with his hands gripping the armrests. "It's just like last time…" He assured himself quietly and started glancing back to try catching a glimpse of his friends.

Taylor was specifically on his mind. But as Hogarth started to, a memory returned to him.

"_Wave good-bye to Daddy, Hogarth_." _Annie Hughes encouraged her son_.

_A five-year-old whose helmet was too big for him and who was all together entirely puny for a normal kindergartener waved at a young man boarding an F-84 Thunderjet. Johnston Hughes gave a small salute to them, a perfect, crisp smile and nodded at the small boy._

_"Always look your loved ones in the eye before you leave, son."_

_He got on in right as Hogarth opened his mouth to speak. "Bye, Dad…" The helmet that his father had first worn slipped completely over his face. Hogarth wriggled out of his mom's arms and scampered blindly forward. But as he pushed it up, the plane became air borne._

It felt like any moment they were going to take flight. Hogarth froze from looking back at Taylor and faced forward, determined to keep looking straight ahead. In the seconds that dwindled down before they took off, one of the handles extended out from its panel up to Hogarth's goatee-rounded chin. He watched as it gently nudged him to turn around to see Taylor, her short dark blonde hair was swept to one-side and her beige eyes shone with a deep happiness as she watched them take off. Hogarth smiled and gave her a small salute.

When he turned back it was still there, his eyes traveled down to the strobe-lit automaton.

"Thanks Giant."

The image winked at him as they started off into the late morning day. Their grill on the front of the otherwise identical craft had the initials **IG **with two **H's **sandwiching it. Tress ran forward while waving wildly after them, his eyes glistening with tears of faith and of hope.

At a rift in the North Atlantic sea…

Massive fleets of the remaining Iron Giant clones flew over the now sea barren land, the ocean floor was exposed with many decayed ruins of unidentifiable creatures as they flew to their destination of Rockwell, Maine where a certain dormant time warp lie. Atop one of the lead Giant clone's shoulder was the cyborg-mutated Kina. Gold's old self stood in a perfectly erect position as her human self languished limply after three days of no food.

"Please, stop…" She begged hoarsely, feeling her skin stretching.

"We have five days until the portal is ready to open…" It eyed her and suddenly the tiny mechanisms in it started to unthread themselves. But much to Kina's horror, she was too fused with the droid and it had before half of her. "I see by your face you'd like to stay."

The young woman inhaled a shaky, sobbing breathe as the robot knitted her flesh and it's wiring back together. "Thank you." She said thankfully. "Please, can I- can I go home?"

"Trust me," The droid half lifted a green optic. "You will return _home _soon enough."

To be continued


	32. Pt 7: Just two of us now

**A/N:** Relationships get interesting in this chapter and you'll re-think smoking afterwards. Heh.

I.

The room was moderately lit but light coming from the sun glazed, snow-covered fields haloed the area where mother and daughter sat at, Trisha Evans had her hair up and well-groomed for the first time since Taylor had seen her mother. Her blue-jumpsuit hugged at her perfect curves and the flushed tint to her oval face was warmed over by a healthy red glow in the new-found confidence she had developed over these last trying eight months. Taylor, herself, tried not to draw attention to the fact that she was carrying a robot infant.

"Well," Her mother said unnaturally briskly. "It looks as though you've grown, Erika. I don't mean just taller…" she tried smiling cleverly. "You fall head-over-heels with the young man whose the cause of all this, _and_ time-travel, _and _befriend robots. Unusual."

"Okay, Mom." Taylor tried humoring her right back. "Firstly, Hogarth and I are going to have to work through our issues but we are in love. I plan to take full responsibility for-."

"_His _child." Trisha immediately cut her off. "Erika Robinson, men are scum-bags. They give women little to no opportunities, they give us jobs and then treat us second-rate, they force us down and …" An airy noise cancelled out the sob in her throat. "And, so you try and make a stand by forcing yourself on a young man you _think _you are in love with." A wave of tears broke through her intense eyes. "What _were _you thinking, Erika Roberta!?"

"I was thinking the man I loved needed me." Taylor said, reposed. "I was thinking that I would take full responsibility for my actions." She crossed her legs and re-folded both of her hands at her mother's strained look. "Mother, I am not going to lead the life of a la-."

_Whack! _

Her eyes widened with thick shock and pooled to the brim, the sting on her cheek brought Taylor out of what she was going to say. Confusion set in quickly. She had thought that if she came in and told her mother exactly what had happened, and her plans to do the right thing that she would be accepting. This completely took back the seventeen-year-old girl.

"Mom," Her voice wavered a bit. "I'm just trying to say-."

Two hands clasped her wrists and Trisha Evans stared down into Taylor's face, the teen was halted from saying another word. Her mother's fawn eyes were dry and wielded a steely glint she had only seen one other time before in a pre-destroyed Washington D.C.

"Taylor, Erika, _whatever _you're going by now." Trisha gripped her hands possessively. "I went through hell and back to find you. I've been living in hotels, taken advantage of by Russian communists and nearly lost you when all I've ever done is to provide for you…"

"…I'm sorry, Mother." Taylor said quietly, sitting down and feeling reprimanded as she looked down with her hands on the orb. "I've no right to say my choices will be better."

"Did I hurt you?" Trisha gave her daughter's arm a stroke; she shook her head and lifted her eyes to meet her mother's. "You do love the friends you've made through all of this."

The young woman smiled and held up the glowing orb she hugged in her arms with tongs for appendages. "Yes," she said honestly. "And aside from Trina, Mom, they're all men."

A slow, considerate look crossed the older woman's face as she bowed her head, lacing together her fingers. "Dear, I want you to know…" She hesitantly touched the metal arm and then her daughter's arm beneath with both her hands. "That I've seen Murray Jones."

"Who?" Taylor asked automatically.

"Your father."

II.

In the skies over a scattered population of towns in the United Kingdom…

As they were flying over the beginning shoreline of their first continent, Hogarth finally grew bored of staring out at two hours of sea. The Giant had taken his time working out and trying all his systems in the transmuted mood he was in, finally re-appearing on the panel. Hogarth turned to face him; this was the first time they were on their own again.

"So," he rubbed at his goatee-styled chin. "If you're flying, what do I get to do?"

The blue Giant image scratched at his cranium a moment before looking at him with an idea. "Do you still have that coordinates module-thing that Archer gave you, Hogarth?"

He pulled out the dimly glowing pink cylinder and watched as a small pin-ball-looking compartment ejected out from the panel. With a curious look, Hogarth inserted it inside and gave the holder a little pull back. It shot forward and the entire panel hummed with a deep rumble. The two gave one another briefly unsure looks before a projection of maps and two dots that arced over indicating a lead Drick and Drock appeared before Hogarth.

"There you go…" A baritone voice said confidently. "That takes one job off of me."

"Navigational guide… groovy pick." Hogarth nodded with his lip undersides pursing out in satisfaction as he tried to undo his belt. "Thanks, Giant. I think I'll just go make a fast trip to the bathing chamber and see if they stocked us with some beer before I sit down."

"Do you think we're high enough for you to move around safely?"

"Yeah, I just read the altitude and it should be fine for me. I'm guessing your armor acts as a sort of extra pressurized barrier, so the oxygen in here should be just fine." Hogarth waited until a glowing red circle with a line through it re-lit to an open green at the side of the panel before getting up, and taking out a pack of three fairly preserved cigarettes.

"All right," The Giant said tentatively as the maps reverted away for the moment. "Just be careful, I'm not completely use to this yet." He eyed the pack in Hogarth's hand with a concerned look. "You aren't going to use one, are you? I know that isn't a healthy habit."

"I'll smoke away from you then, I'm just kind of nervy right now." He stood up and took a lighter from his pocket, but as Hogarth began to he paused. "What? I don't do it often."

"Taylor says smoking causes lung cancer." The Giant informed him, reaching out with a mechanical hand to take the cigarette from Hogarth's own and snapping it in half as if it were dynamite. "And you can die from it." He continued debating. "Did you know that?"

"Yes, I know that." Hogarth said, trying not to sound sarcastic as he walked away.

"But you still do it?" The Giant's image leapt to the back of the seat, incredulous.

"I don't do it enough to harm myself."

"_Hogarth_…" He implored plaintively.

"_Giant_…" A partially-amused grin crossed his face.

The blue image staring back at him remained obstinate.

"So I'll respect the fact that this is you and not smoke inside." Hogarth gave his head a dismissive shake at the Giant's lecturing as he headed for a back door. The sliding panel opened and he left the worried-looking robotic outline to search out the back. "What's up with him, anyway?" He wondered to himself as he searched a few containers for drinks.

The compartments had pressure-sealed jars and clearly wrapped sandwiches. _Toe funk, _he thought with a small wave of revulsion, but Hogarth knew he couldn't complain with all that he had received. There were some aluminum-type of squared cups and a tall metallic jug that was probably filled with a beverage inside. However, before Hogarth took one he noticed a bolted window with a door to it. Stepping over revealed there was a walkway to the outside of the Giant's transmuted form with a limpid bulbous wall that surrounded it.

"All right," Hogarth slipped out a cigarette and twisted it in between his square fingers. "I promise this is my last." He placed his hand to a scanner and was permitted instant access to the outside where flaming turbines propelled them forward blaringly; Hogarth adjusted his helmet and stepped out carefully. "Besides, what IG doesn't know won't hurt him…"

~_~_~_~

III.

"We had just arrived at a hotel." Trisha was explaining. "Your uncle checked us in and I was in my room unpacking…" she pinched the bridge of her nose as the memory buoyed.

"I'd rather not hear about him." Taylor said calmly, folding her arms across the table.

"Well, I want you to."

"Well," She stood up and made for the door. "I'm not going to."

"He phoned my hotel to tell me how sorry he was for the past." Taylor's hand hovered in mid-action from inserting a card as her mother kept talking. "After hearing how both of us had moved, he told me that was the final straw and he was going to turn himself in."

She turned with an expectant smile playing on her face, but realization ripped through her like a stun of electricity. "He… turned _us _over." Taylor said tonelessly. "My own father."

"Your uncle never sold you out, baby." Trisha smiled tearfully. "Even when my parents rejected me and you, Robert never did." Without waiting for an invitation, Taylor went over and sat on her mother's lap. Softly, but finally together, mother and daughter cried.

"When Hogarth and I are together, will you accept him and our extended family too?"

"Robots, dear?" Trisha asked in an air-sucking laugh. "You want me to accept robots?"

"Yes."

"Whatever helps to make us a family again."

~_~_~_~

IIIV.

Hogarth was looking rather smug as he held out his cigarette over one of four large and evenly spaced, rounded engines. The flame-roaring fuel was about to touch the bud of the

small white stick when the turbine zipped back it's torching energy. A little surprised, he moved over to where the second left one was and tried lowering it down to this one but it was instantly sucked away as well. When it went out, the fire-churning first one revived.

Not to be outdone, Hogarth bent over the edge and noticed the protective concave bubble extended down to the veranda. Smirking sideways, he climbed up onto metal railing and hooked his legs around it with confidence that his months of strenuous leg pull-ups would see him through. Hogarth draped himself down to where he was in between the powerful turbines, before blood could start rushing to his head he held out the un-lit cigarette to it.

But both on the right side went out and before Hogarth could react, he was back-stepping into the inventory. The transmuted Giant flipped lopsidedly and Hogarth suddenly lost a sense of gravity. Before he could make a hard contact with a rack of slipped items, a four –fingered hand seized his forearm and kept him from falling face first into shelving rows. Hogarth then found himself doused in something wafting a thick, herbal-smelling aroma.

"Tea." He said simply, tasting it on his tongue. "Cold, but this stuff beats out beer."

"Hogarth." The Giant's strobe image appeared on the door, his hands on his hips. "I told you not to mess with my insides just yet. Look," he pointed to a spilled jar of some type.

"That could have been me." Hogarth stated lamely, but grew more serious as the aircraft leveled out and he brushed the mechanical hand aside. "I'd like it if you weren't in mom-bot mode, Giant. In case you haven't noticed I've never really needed a caretaker, okay?"

"The only reason you're being allowed to go is because I'm here." The automaton argued as Hogarth began to absently pick up, one hand falling to his side as he motioned with the other. "I have to watch over you, Hogarth. And the only other way they'd let you is if…"

He trailed off before he mentioned the mind-erasing part; the Giant planned to tell him at the end. "Like a protector." Hogarth looked up at him with a slight smile on his face, then gave his head a shake and ushered him away. "Just go fly, Giant. I'll get this cleaned up."

As he reached down to grab a jar, a mechanical hand held out a towel for him. The image of the Giant was gone, but Hogarth could still feel the assisting presence lingering. With a twinge of guilt, he took the towel and instead of drying himself off he mopped the floor.

After several minutes of tidying up, Hogarth tossed the towel over his shoulder and began out into the front of the aircraft again. The Giant looked a little self-incriminating himself as the young man returned to the front and took a place before him. However, before the robot could open his mandible to speak, Hogarth decidedly held up a hand to hinder him.

"Giant," he said candidly. "We've been through some important things together. But we haven't been through _a lot _together, and so we don't know each other like we once did."

The Giant nodded at this in agreement, looking equally if not more saddened by this fact.

"And we need to be patient with one another." He remarked.

Hogarth nodded back. "That's right." He tugged on his clothes. "Do you have some kind of ventilation shafts around here?" The Giant shuttered his eyes closed as two clear, hard plastic funnels protruded out and Hogarth slipped off his clothes, his under garments (he made sure to turban his rear end) and slipped them all through the channeling air currents.

"If it keeps you from catching a cold…" The robot sighed in resignation. "You do have a point Hogarth; if we're gonna do this we've got to learn to understand each other again."

"Remember not learn." He corrected casually. "Far out method of drying clothes, huh?"

"Please just hurry up before Drick or Drock sees you."

.

"Giant, when your pal is '50 feet tall and was made from molted metal it's hard _not_ to be seen." Hogarth half-joked as he slipped on the red-blue jumpsuit again and slipped off the towel. "You can open your peepers now. I forgot to ask but does your floor have any kind of vacuums?" He viewed craftily as the Giant tested out small suction valves everywhere.

"Yes, why?"

"No reason…" Hogarth hummed idly as he held out the soaking towel in both his hands and leaned over the armrest, squeezing out the tea on the floor and grabbing up the eye-wear strapped helmet. The Giant shuttered his eyes in accusingly as Hogarth allowed the stripped head-protector to roll down his arms before coolly plopping it upon his cranium.

"Hogarth…"

"Giant." He grinned, crossing his arms behind his head and folding a leg on his knee. As he enjoyed his moment of brief triumph, a grey-tipped hand slowly came up from behind him and pushed the helmet with the goggles over Hogarth's face. The teenager raised the tip back up slowly, giving the somewhat smug-appearing automaton a feign glare at this.

"So, Giant of glaciers, you think you have outdone me." He spoke in a dramatic voice.

"But of course, Garth man of Rockwell, how could you ever hope to defeat me?"

They kept glaring at each other before surprisingly bursting out in laughter; the Giant's turning out to be a deeply jovial, resonating chuckle. Hogarth shook his head a little and wiped at his eye as the traces of intense cheer began to fade, nostalgic air venting around.

"Hogarth," The Giant inquired gently, his tone solacing with intrigue. "You all right?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." He smiled big to hide the obvious embarrassment of showing emotions, but sighed with calmed decision as he said honestly. "It's just that I have… _really_ missed having you around Giant." His smart-ass attitude melted away. "I've always missed you."

There was a moment of profound thought. "I missed you too." The Giant shared.

"But hey," Hogarth laced his fingers together and leaned forward. "We're going to make up for lost time, right?" he said. The Giant nodded with certainty. "Yes, we're going to."

At that moment, something jarred them. Hogarth thrust forward in the jostling and came face-to-face with the wide-eyed robot. Holographic maps with coordinates dotting every last corner flashed up in his face, as well as a peeved-looking Drick glaring into his eyes.

"Activate your stabilizers, we are hitting turbulence!" He informed blisteringly.

The image vanished as the maps remained; Hogarth was still holding his breathe in.

"Hogarth?" His friend's voice was a little shaky but still sounded fairly steady.

"Giant?" He breathed out heavily.

"Read those maps while I keep us up, there's this bad storm outside. I've never seen it."

"Storm?" Hogarth repeated in confusion and peered around the maps to see a thick wall of dusty granules surging by. There was only one word that could exit his mouth. "Sand."

"Sandstorm." The Giant completed.

To be continued…

**A/N (continued): **Yes, friends. After all this time the remaining story will focus primarily on Double H and IG. Stay tuned!


	33. Pt: 8: The first night

**A/N: **Let the chillers and thrillers live on.

I.

Late noon December 15th, Iceland…

Children from Honolulu watched with undeterred attention as the last of their classmates were demonstrating the manipulation of their sub-droids: small, simple machines in basic grey color. Though they had other classes, the way they handled their genetic sub-droids was particularly important since the children had been bonded with only micro fragments of transmuting properties at birth. From then on the droid would define as the child grew.

"So this is how it's done." Taylor said in a voice of awe, both intrigued and delighted at the children's progress. "I think it's cute but, Inx, they _imprint _on the infant at birth…?"

"Harmless procedure, Taylor." The Asian man smiled sideways at her as he jotted down electronic notes from his time guiding Hogarth. "Not to worry," he noticed her clutch at her stomach and the orb. "That child rightfully belongs to you. Uh… the human, I mean."

"Inx." She sighed roughly and turned away from the students. "I've been here for eight months now. I have missed out on school, that silly 'fight the man' liberation thing and the Beatles. Half the time I'm left in the dark and I want to know something right now."

He shook his head with a little "hmm" but gave her a cooperative look. "Taylor, if it is about whether or not you becoming a surrogate parent to a droid is healthy then I must-."

"They aren't going to let the Giant return, are they?" She said abruptly. Inx successfully was quieted and he stared at her with amazement for her growth these last eight months.

II.

A desert-sprawled Ardennes, Belgium 2201…

The maps translated from Omnish into English showed that they were traveling at a speed of eight-hundred and forty-two miles an hour, the storm held large blurs of black rushing by. Hogarth yelled out different statistics, he had studied up quite a bit with his dad in the time he was home, and ways of trying to stay up in the hazardous onslaught they were in.

"It's hard to steer." The Giant's deep voice came out unusually haggard and strained, like static of the mechanical type correlating with true struggling emotion in the young man's ears. "You're buckled, right?" Hogarth confirmed. "Helmet?" Another yes. "Sat down?"

"Giant, I just lost the signal on Drick and Drock! It just… bleeped out." He swallowed a lump of fear down in his throat and gripped the armrests tightly. "Don't panic. My guess is that there's a small glitch, and they're fixing it." Hogarth made sure his tone was calm.

"I'm just trying to dodge flying pieces of trash out here, Hogarth!" The robot exclaimed as his entire transmuted self rocked and careened from side-to-side. "My sight can zoom in but even I can't see through this mess." He sounded distant and lost. "Hogarth, I-I'm-."

The teenager yanked out the pin-ball slot containing the maps and slid the pink cylinder into his jacket pocket, as the glowing holographs zoomed out the sight of a large object hurtling at them caused the start of a wet feeling in his pants. "Damn! Giant, dodge it!"

"_That's_-." He made a fell swoop curve to the right to avoid it. "-all I've been doing."

"Keep it up then, IG." Hogarth said evenly, even as his heart rocketed in his chest. "Ride the air channels, don't think but focus on avoiding flying debris. I'll… stay where I am."

A low, gurgling noise filled Hogarth's ears and he sat erect with realization even as the motions of the Giant were still very helter-skelter. That was the one thing the two could count on to get them into trouble: The Giant's huge appetite. "Uh…" he groaned tiredly.

"Giant, if you see flying chunks of metal then go ahead and gobble them up."

"No mouth…" The insides compressed together with whining hunger pangs and Hogarth watched with some amazement as they seemed to be almost breathing, refusing to let the transfiguration form break but quickly losing. "Hogarth…" his voice was exhausted. "I-."

"Hold it out a few seconds longer." He insisted, setting the helmet so that a shaded visor slid down and two airway holes at the back opened up. Feeling like he was going from a fighter pilot to an astronaut, Hogarth took what resembled a jet pack with two big oxygen enriched canisters and breathed clean air as hoses snapped into the back of his head wear.

"Hang tight_…" _The Giant's voice suddenly surged with vengeance, but it was too late as a sense of control left the pair floundering. There came different gusts of sand-laden wind that thrust them both a part. Hogarth watched as the Giant was changed back; His size in this perilous storm was fantastic as he was deposited on the ground in a resounding thud.

_Lucky. _Hogarth thought.

The sense of something coming at him sent shivers up his spine. "Giant!" he panicked.

"Hogarth!" His white eyes centered quickly on the young man as he was spinning dizzily in the frantic, rushing winds. The Giant crouched down with his head between his knees and lunged fully-outstretched into the air, aided by his rocket-boosters, and snatched him up effortlessly. Using his arms as a shield the Giant brought Hogarth up to check him out.

He sat down with his legs spread apart and arms braced against the inner grey metal arms that were doubly reinforced by the new armor, looking rather anxious but without a speck of damage. The Giant brought him closer to his chest and squinted his shutters as he tried to get a better assessment on where they were. Hogarth knocked on the howling stomach.

"Giant." He called up to him. "It sounds like a herd of elephants down here."

The automaton looked down at Hogarth, gave him a rather unquenchable look at what he was about to do and opened his mouth. "Just until we can find shelter." He tried assuring.

"Fine by me." Hogarth's voice traveled some as he made his way into the open space.

"Make sure to stay away from my teeth." An unpleasant image earned him a convulsion.

"Take it easy, Giant." Hogarth said as he slipped inside and kept his distance from a pair of over-sized iron teeth, the gurgling overshadowed his echoing voice. "See any signs of our _crew mates_, captain?" The attempt to sound casual hardly masked his concerned tone.

"I can barely see my hands in front of my eyes, Hogarth." The Giant said a little irritably, but his voice turned sympathetic then. "We'll have to find them when the storm clears up more, right now we need to get you out of this." He said, prioritizing his well being first.

"What?" The feeling of being leaned against inside his mouth let him know his passenger was at home. "I think your palette is a pretty groovy pad, maybe add a shag rug or two..."

"Hogarth." The Giant said flatly as he trudged through the continuous sheets of sand to a mountain range that looked carved into. "My mouth isn't a storm shelter." He told him as he inspected their potential temporary residence. "This is just until we find you a… _pad_?"

"Yes," He felt a couple of reassuring pats on his metal. "But I wouldn't trust any other."

III.

_Transmutation is something we use impersonally to help get by. _Inx's words drifted into Taylor's head as she lie on her back, hands folded behind her head. _Not for personal gain and most definitely not for imagination at the appropriate age, our friends are only going along to return to their own time and then you and your mother will be teleported as well._

_And the Giant…?_

_It is not my place __Taylor__; I will not receive a third violation. You will be taken care of in the end and that is all that matters aside from the Giant's clones being halted. All right?_

But it wasn't all right.

Taylor clutched at the orb and rolled over to face the wall of the bed she was on, the hair that was loose down her back mysteriously began to lengthen. _Transmutation, something to be used impersonally… _Inx was wrong. The Giant and Hogarth shared something very personal and she would support whatever they decided to do; Taylor believed in her boys.

IV.

The Giant bent his face down to a big cave mouth and laid down sideways, blocking other openings that could send in the tremendous sand storm. He eyed the place inside to make sure no one was around, and placed his steam-shovel chin at the mountain's stoned base. Hogarth felt dirt kick up under his feet as he found himself back stepping into a crowded, cavernous area. The surroundings hulked with clutter and dark objects, every shadow that loomed over him mysteriously shifted in an arc as the Giant settled down on his big side.

"Whoo…" Hogarth shook his head at the welcome feeling of safety. "The crazy messes we land ourselves into." He looked at the white eye staring in at him, rather pristine and spellbinding against the stark outlook. "Sorry you can't come in, pal." he rubbed the nap of his neck as he checked around; breaking off from the odd trance he'd been placed into.

"It's all right." The Giant answered as his stomach rumbled in hunger. "I'll be fine."

"We need to take of that once and for all." Hogarth said, briskly argumentative as he now began to rummage around the area for any metal he could find. "All right, let's see here."

Different articles of junk, twisted coils of wiring and overlapping dirt clumps existed in his line of appraisal. He began to dig through the rubble even at the Giant's beginning of protests that he would be all right. After several minutes, Hogarth had uncovered what he thought might have once been engines to something. They were large without any of the typical features of twentieth century ones, but sophisticated in an uncomplicated fashion.

"Solar craft engines…" The Giant said with a start-and-stop, longing sigh.

"Then that's Chef Garth's specialty for this evening." Hogarth laughed as he rolled his sleeves back and rubbed his hands together in preparation to push them forward. Even at the Giant's insistence to not bother with it he grunted with exertion as he shoved one in a back-straining heave. "It's no problem, Giant. Just open up and take it like a metal man."

With a resigned noise, he heard the hunk of engine taken up and crunched loudly against grinding metal jaws in a satisfied, savoring way. "Anymore?" The Giant asked, his ivory eye moving every which way in search of more metal. Hogarth shook his head amusedly at his friend's sudden eagerness and began pushing the few other engines up to snack on.

As he searched the thinning ends of what he now saw was debris, something in his sight drained the good humor right out of him and his helpful demeanor waned. Hogarth gave a sigh as he felt the inquisitive presence of the Giant's eye awaiting him to make a move.

"What did you find, Hogarth?"

"_Hey_…" The young man snatched up a corrugated sheet of metal and showed it to keep the robot distracted. "Look what I found, its munchies a'la crunchies. It's delicious and nutritious." He was given a confused look. "Bendy and trendy for the latest seasons…?"

"Hogarth, you know I can't see in there." The Giant tried not to sound offensive.

With a defeated look, Hogarth tossed the metal aside and nodded apologetically. "You're right, just because you can't be in here that doesn't mean I should keep you from seeing things." he stepped aside to reveal an old exoskeleton that looked human but was far too large. Dusty scraps and tarnished metal furls lie everywhere: aged droid corpse remains.

"Is that…?" The Giant began with astonishment.

"Looks like we weren't the first ones here." Hogarth mentioned offhandedly, bowing his head a little and turning to the large robot in condolences. "I'm sorry for this, Iron Giant."

He closed his eye a moment before looking at Hogarth with what he was surprised to see was consideration. "People look at droids differently, Hogarth. They had to have needed the metal for something." The Giant was unsettlingly tolerant. "It's too late to change it."

"Giant, you know I would never-."

"I know." He said with conviction. "It's different for us…"

"We respect each other." Hogarth's stomach gave a small gurgle.

The white eye looking in at him raised a lower shutter. "It's _your_ turn, Chef Garth."

"Did you have enough to eat?"

"Well," His gullet lurched ten-fold. "No, but you go on ahead. I'm mostly just tired."

V.

Taylor tossed restlessly around in her bed, memories rushed through her mind in small fragments. She was five and living in a run down apartment, then she was eight with her mother moving to a less shabby district and her mother making more money, she was ten and attending boarding school with Uncle Rob's help, she was twelve competing with all the boys in her school, she was fourteen and even more persistent about being considered equal to men, she was fifteen and offered an opportunity by her uncle she couldn't refuse.

As the memories poured in the hair that was splayed around Taylor's shoulder began with incredible gradualness to lengthen out, her lips pursed and she rubbed at the glowing orb that was secured to her stomach. She didn't take notice or feel anything as her stomach as flat as it was beneath the orb was beginning to expand out: signs of premature prong arms extracted from Pygmy's orb and gently incased Taylor's swelling belly as meticulously as an expert with a crane, the gold radiance encircled her closed eye lids.

"Taylor." A soothing female voice spoke. "I keep baby safe. No worry, I keep they safe."

She smiled unconsciously; this slowly faded at Inx's earlier words.

_"Transmutation, something to be used impersonally…"_

VI.

Hogarth tried for the third time to successfully light a fire while on his knees inside the middle of the cavern, he blew repeatedly on a dry stack of various drift word (the single thing in boy scouts he ever bothered to put much effort into) and let a small, triumphant grin spark across his lips as the welcomed start of orange embers glowed over his face.

"And - _there_." He looked up at the Giant. "How's the storm looking outside, pal?"

"Hmm." As he turned to catch a glimpse of the storm, a whistling noise split the calm air and the fire was instantly put out. "Oh… sorry." The Giant turned back around, sheepish.

Hogarth sighed patiently and pulled out a rumpled sandwich from his pocket. "No harm done." he placed his jacket over a ways and brought it up to his mouth. "It's not like I'm cold, but it seemed kind of natural to do." He stopped mid-bite as the Giant watched him.

"What?"

"It's just that I don't feel right eating in front of you."

_"Hogarth…"_ The Giant said in disbelief.

"Could you do me a favor and close your eye." He insisted. "I won't feel guilty then."

"Oh." His shutters closed together.

A loud engulfing noise was heard from the lingering darkness.

"Hogarth."

"Hmm?"

"I can still hear you." The Giant said flatly.

His friend's answer was a quick swallow. As he re-opened his eye, Hogarth had his back turned to him as he stretched out his arms and pulled out Taylor's hair tie. "Uhh." Came a groan mingled with a yawn. "Well," he scratched his underarm and lay down. "'G night."

"Good night."

Hogarth thought he heard a note of disappointment in his voice.

When he was sure Hogarth was asleep a few hours later, the Giant shifted around so that he was in a better position and re-arranged his hands and feet so that the entrances were still blocked. The outline of what might have been a headless person showed up right at the center point of his giant eye, and began to tip-toe around the area in search of metal.

Clutter rustled softly as it was sifted through; once something was uncovered the Giant's hand would fall into its regular four-legged position and scurry on over to his over-sized mouth where he would devour the small recovery metal that he made _sure _wasn't from a droid. This went on for half an hour, the wind outside howling began to die down as little by little his frustrating hunger did. The Giant was finally ready to have his hand return so he could reattach it when he noticed Hogarth sleeping soundly over fifteen feet from him.

After six years, a short interval of time spent together, almost an entire year again and of course just five days spent together, here they were. There were so many times he had wondered if and what they'd missed out on together, and here they were. There were so many times he had imagined just him and Hogarth together for whatever length of time without immediate threat to pull them apart. Finally, it was here. _They_ were finally here.

Soft sounds of someone who was deeply asleep entered his sensory receptors. Currently in biped mode, the hand gracefully returned to three fingers, one rising up in the air. He guided his eye beam steadily so that it was directed away from Hogarth's face, the hand carefully approached the sleeping young man and its index finger crooked in observance.

Hesitating at first, not wanting to wake him, the Giant lowered the capped finger down to where his head was covered in messily whipped copper hair. The scene at the portal when the two had first seen each other flashed through his head, but then that look he had seen well up in those muddled blue eyes helped to alleviate the rise of uncertainty in the Giant.

_"You know I could never hurt you_…"

He gently brushed Hogarth's bangs away from his face, warmth enraptured the big, bulky space inside of him but also an almost stinging at the thought of his friend being without a father for so long. Quietly, the Giant's hand backed away and his fingers bent in a laid out position not unlike that of a faithful canine guardian settling down to watch over his human companion. But as the index finger curled inward, a hand shot out to grab onto it.

"When Tress and I met again, he asked me about you. Want to know what I told him?"

The Giant blinked in surprise.

"I told him that right above Superman; the Iron Giant was the greatest superhero whoever lived." Hogarth said this almost causally. He lifted his lower shutter in a touched smile at that, and gave a purposeful squeeze hand in finger before letting go. "Good night, Giant."

"Good night… Garth man."

They both laughed a little.

"And don't forget, I promised when this is over with you could meet Julie."

This time the large eye closed and stayed closed.

To be continued…


	34. Pt: 9: When does memory serve?

**A/N:** Irony can sometimes be cruel and other times hilarious.

I.

Hogarth felt himself suspended at unknown heights, the distant sounds of _whooshing _and _whishing _were the only things that came to his ears. He saw thin flashes on the fringes of his closed eyes, whirling around as if to signal him out of his oddly peace-filled slumber.

It was odd because there had been many a night Hogarth hadn't slept well at all, all those long nights thinking his friends were gone and his family was back in the past. Suddenly a great urge to understand his surroundings invaded his need for comfort, naturally drawn to wanting to explain the unknown; Hogarth opened his eyes and scanned a black, empty space of nothingness with only flickers of white light dodging fleetingly around the boy.

_Boy._

He looked down at his square-fingered hands and saw that they weren't as manly as he'd remembered. A bit dazed, Hogarth traced the shape of his face to re-discover the boy-ish roundness had returned. If that weren't enough of a shocker, he found himself standing in the center of a white disk of light not unlike those that were zipping around him in haste.

"Hogarth." A soft voice accosted him some distance away. The familiarity lit a spark of hope in him and Hogarth turned to see his mother standing over a ways. She looked just like she had before he left for the future, bunchy brown hair loose with tired, calm eyes.

"Mom." He spoke a little eagerly, dashing over to where she was only to have his hands smack into a clear panel of glass. Sorrow etched in Hogarth's face. "Are you all right?"

The maternal kindness never faltered on her heart-shaped face. "Yes, I've told you that once before." She made no move to touch him. "Honey, I want you to know your father and I are very proud of you. You're brave, compassionate and intelligent. We love you."

"Will we ever be together again?" He asked, surprised by how young his voice sounded.

"One day yes. Honey, accept yourself." Annie's image began to fade away and Hogarth, panicked at loosing her, began banging futilely against the glass while calling out for her.

"That's a good way to skin your knuckles, kiddo." Dean's voice said, half-joking.

"Dean?" Hogarth turned his head and through his shaggy bangs saw half the man before him to his left. He strained to see the rest of him in the shadowy cover. "I can't see you."

"Hoggie." Julie's voice inquired softly from behind. "I miss you."

A shudder went through him as he looked over his shoulder and saw she was just barely visible to him too, that's when he slowly realized that by coming here he had alienated himself from his family in the process. "Julies," he reached around for her. "I'm sorry."

"Come home, Hogarth." Dean instructed him. "I don't care when, just come home."

Their images faded.

Hogarth felt a menagerie of confusion, sadness and desertion well up in his small-framed chest, but what struck him with bewilderment was the fact that he was levitating right up into the air now away from the large ivory pool of light that he had been standing on. The feeling of gravity didn't leave him, but he struggled to arm-stroke his way back to it. He was struggling to keep from wigging out when the flashing white lights suddenly pulled together with an invisible suctioning force, outlining a large being ten-times his own size.

"Giant." He said uncertainly. The smoky white masses of swirling energy solidified and sparkled like pinpricks of diamonds. Hogarth swallowed hard as the giant white circle he had been standing on rotated in a blink before speaking his name, not in question but in a statement. Slowly, Hogarth held out both his arms and drifted down to the gigantic robot.

"Hogarth." He repeated solemnly and held out one of his huge hands.

They gravitated over towards each other. "Giant," Hogarth said, his voice wavering a bit. "Don't leave again, okay? Not like last time…" he couldn't control his tone. "Don't go."

The look in the metal monolith's gaze was regretful for the pain in his friend's own, but didn't appear promising to hold to Hogarth's request. A thin translucent line blocked the few inches they had before making contact, and Hogarth could feel that though this was the rawest root of their separation there was a hope lingering in front of them. He felt it.

"Don't go." He whispered this in a near command and felt back in control. The surface of the clear wall broke with the two making contact. Hogarth's brief moment of control was gone when he noticed that his skin was turning translucent as well, outlined and dotted in white. He panicked and withdrew from his friend's touch. "Giant, no, I'm not ready yet!"

"I had to be ready." This was the Giant's calm, accepting reply. "So will you."

Hogarth's body reverted back to flesh and skin. "B-but-" he saw his friend fade. "_No_!"

In drenching sweat, the young man shot up and dug his hands into his sopping wet hair. A fear rattled him and he frantically patted his cheeks (they were smooth and devoid of any baby fat), he looked at his hands (they were big, tough and callous-covered) and he had no metal skin as he thought he had seen forming. It had all been just a crazy dream.

Hogarth grimaced at the thought of being anything but flesh and blood, with a quiet gulp he turned to see that the Giant's detached hand was still sprawled out and the robot was himself passed out. At that reassurance, Hogarth smiled and felt his body relax. He then decided to do some morning stretches and go out to see if the storm had cleared. If that turned out to be successful, Hogarth would spend the early morning gathering supplies.

II.

December 16th of the same morning…

The verge of winter was clear in the golden-brown foliage as Dean careened his huge, dark motorcycle with Julie in the passenger attachment around to the front of the park.

"You know how I spoke with the mayor a few days ago." He mentioned to his daughter.

"Right." Julianne said without much enthusiasm.

"And you know the statue in the park…" Dean sent her a crafty look. She raised a brow.

"Daddy, you know I think it's the best you ever did."

"Well." His mood sobered a bit, but he didn't allow his spirits to become depressed. "I'd like to do something to make this Christmas a memorable one." Dean didn't use anything like 'special' or 'unique' as he parked along the sidewalk curb and boosted the young girl up into his arms. "Did you know this park was created seven years ago this very month?"

"Along with the Iron Giant statue." Julie added.

"Sometimes tradiges are the makings for new beginnings," He told her. Two people who had been there for much of what had gone on waved them over, Dean waved back. "And I know how much you want your brother home, so we're doing something for him dear."

"What?" She asked with curiosity aroused in her voice.

"It's called a time capsule."

III.

Two yellow-suited men peered around a craggy wall to take in the plentiful gathering of white-headed, brown wing birds living in the desert-like valley. They had managed to use their Iron Giant clones to their advantage so as to avoid climbing, and now bared witness to vast sandstone cliffs that held large, oval eggs in them. The grandeur of seeing the big, repopulated bald eagles was lost on the hungry duo, waiting for the opportunity to get in.

"As clever as Garth Hughes is." Drick informed his partner with a devious grin, pulling a rod out to stun the once rare birds. "He isn't equipped to face these conditions as we are."

Drock, the more sensible of the two, only rolled his eyes and turned away with his arms crossed to see the droids were out scavenging the sandy landscape for half-buried scrap metal. It was at times like this he wished he could trade in his complicated life for theirs.

_One can only dream_.

After having marveled at the fact that the bald eagle was no longer endangered, Hogarth set the pair of eggs he had found abandoned by a sandstone outcropping and peered over it at the slumbering Giant as he lay on his back in a dream-filled rest. He let a clever grin cross his face as he sized up his friend, and tossed a rock up and down in his palm readily as he prepared to strike. Creeping out in a crouch, Hogarth reared back and gave a throw.

In a matter of one second, the obtuse-shaped stone was caught betwixt two of the Giant's fingers and handed back to a surprised-looking Hogarth. He narrowed his eyes and gave a hop up on the Giant's hand as it went to lace back with the other atop the robot's paneled chest. Hogarth stepped off of them and up to where his friend's tube-ringed throat started.

"All right, pal." He said patiently, folding his arms. "Time to get up."

No response.

Hogarth walked back a few yards, and then made a leap up onto the Giant's jutting metal chin to stare down into his face. "Wake up, wake up. Hash browns and ketchup." He said in a sing-song voice. Still no response. "Come on, now…" he turned around and made an attempt to pry open the Giant's shuttered eyelids. "Open up those giant metal peepers and greet the day… huh. All right. Well, play possum then. I guess Kina will just defeat you."

With a _chunt_, both white eyes popped open.

Half-amused, half-surprised, Hogarth backed up. "Well, that woke you - _up_!"

He landed in the Giant's open palm as he sat up. "You're right, what was I thinking?" he said hurriedly, preparing to rise to his feet. "We need to find the others and head out as-."

"Whoa, Giant, relax." Hogarth laughed a little as he hopped the two hands back onto the sandstone ledge. "We've got to at least eat breakfast first." He made his way over to take one of the eggs and gestured at it. "Think you could crack this one? It's halfway spoiled."

"Hogarth," The Giant said hastily. "We don't have the time for this." He began scanning the granular clumped area, in search of the items that they had lost. "All of those things-."

"Found." Hogarth intermeddled briskly, gesturing over at all the sand-stained items. Even the large metal liquid processor, which the Giant eyed queasily, was there. "Well, most of everything. I still have the coordinates module, clothes and things like that." He admitted.

"We need to find the others." The Giant insisted, still trying to appear dutiful.

"You don't even want to eat first?" Hogarth eyed him skeptically, his arms folded. "We need to refuel, Giant. Come on, back in the day you weren't above eating a power plant."

"There's time to eat later." He argued.

The young man glanced over with a sly grin at the liquidizer. "A metal milkshake, yum."

"Where would we find the metal?" His gurgling stomach betrayed him.

Hogarth took pity on his friend. "On the other side of this gorge."

The Giant gave him an interested look and peered over to find a collection of metal that was scattered about. "Nice work." He remarked, impressed. "But how did you get it all?"

"Oh, you know. Brains, brawn." Hogarth pulled up a sleeve and flexed his biceps, giving the egg a small twirl on a flat stone. "A big birdie contributed too. Say, would you mind taking a crack at breaking this open?" He held the egg up and the Giant took it hesitantly.

His stomach lurched again and he sighed. "All right, all right. But right after this we go."

"And find Hick and Hock." Hogarth muttered to himself.

"They're part of our team." The Giant insisted, but not without a displeased look.

"I wonder how they're faring." He thought aloud, secretly hoping they were okay.

"Drock!" The frantic man screamed as he rushed down the winding sandstone walls with an egg in his arms, his eyes wide and his pace erratic as he tried to make it to the end of the path. A coup of thirty angry birds was after him. Drock leaned casually against the base of the canyon ridge walls, biting down on a half-buried tofu sandwich he had found.

"Drick." He tried not to let the smirk show on his face as he stepped up on the shoulder of his stationed droid. The two quickly transmuted the side-by-side Giant clones and headed out into the sky, having great difficulty maneuvering away from the frenzy of mom birds.

"Just try giving it a small crack." Hogarth explained as it were that easy. The Giant gave his friend another unsure look, braced himself and tried tapping it on his large shoulder. It gave a little crack. "Giant, no," Hogarth quickened to say. "Doing that will just make it-."

_Splat!_

He glanced down at himself as the dribble of yolk slid down his chest. Hogarth frowned at this and slipped off his jacket, offering it up to the Giant who gladly took it and wiped the syrupy spittle as he reached his abdomen. A greasy smear still looped around though.

"I guess this makes you my apprentice," Hogarth kidded. "The Iron Egghead Chef."

"Oh, does it, _young ward_?" He took up a little yolk on his pinkie and stuck the end of it in Hogarth's ear. "Or would you prefer to be Iron Chef Lad." The Giant carefully wrung all gooey contents from the blue, red-lapel-and-cuff blazer and brought it back down to him.

"Let's try one more time." Hogarth offered. "This time, give it a try on this rock."

Not one to give up easily, the Giant carefully lowered the white oval over the rock, took a pause to consider the life that was once inside it and gave a few gentle taps. "You're sure about this?" he inquired as the lathery substance spewed to every edge. Hogarth nodded.

"Watch," He explained as he adjusted a makeshift concave glass structure, the baking sun was well over-head by now in the deep blue sky. "The intense heat concentrated inside of this glass will focus primarily on the target, namely, an uncooked omelet. These rays act as…" Hogarth noticed the Giant tried to pay attention, but his eyes were drifting sideway.

"You wouldn't mind if I started…?"

"The sooner the better." He laughed.

IV.

"These have all the signatures of Rockwell citizens on them, Julianne." Dean explained to his daughter as he held up a parcel of light brown paper with decorative trim. "This is for your mother." His voice caught with a little emotion, but he licked the surface of his mouth. "This is for how brave she was, how strong and how resilient Annetta Hughes was."

"She still is, Daddy." Julie told him softly, touching his bottom eye-lid before tears could trickle down his cheek. Dean smiled at her, her own blue eyes watering up. "Go on now."

He looked over to a solemn Gorden and Bethany Rhinestien. "The point of this, Julie, is to bury it and dig it up in the future as a reminder of what once was and what is going to be." Dean carefully rolled it up in scroll-form and placed it in a tubular container. Gorden came over to Julianne's side, winked at her and let the girl grasp onto his mother's spade.

"We're gonna remember what happened this year, Peaches." He promised her.

She looked up at the statue of the Iron Giant and smiled, imagining seeing Hogarth again. Julianne imagined the stories he was going to tell her, the memories of their mom and her daddy they could share. When Hogarth came back, she was sure he would not leave Julie.

V.

Hogarth lay against the giant flat rock, clutching at his stomach. "Dear god…" he tried to contain a cramp stitching up in his gut. "I should've known that half-spoiled is still bad."

The Giant eyed him curiously from lounging against the giant sandstone wall, picking out a long, large twine of metal from his iron teeth. "Maybe we should've found a sandwich."

"How can you not have a stomach ache?" Hogarth shook his head incredulously, rubbing his well-toned abdomen as the food settled. "You eat enough for fifteen garbage trucks."

"And if they're lucky, they don't get eaten themselves." The Giant kidded pointedly.

"Well," Hogarth stood up with a slight grin, dusting off his clothes. "I suppose eating too much for you is just eating enough." He picked up a dust-sprinkled, paper-thin and black rimmed scanner. "According to this do-hickey, the others aren't far from where we are."

"That's… good to know they're all right." The Giant offered as he picked the large cerise and azure suit of conforming armor. "Thanks for the scrap metal, too. You know," he let some doubt show as the suit contorted fittingly. "Maybe we could look at your designs."

"Oh," Hogarth gave him a lofty look. "So much for playing by the rules, eh?"

Before the Giant could say anything, and before Hogarth could gather up his supplies, a purple, corrugated item fell from the Giant's armor. The two looked at one another as it seemed to fall in slow motion; Hogarth was surprised to see total shock hit his ivory eyes.

"Giant," He picked up the device, instantly suspicious as he picked up on his friend's dismay. Oddly enough, Hogarth caught on that the Giant felt that he'd been found out. "Take it easy, pal." he assured him. "Looks like you dropped something important…"

"It was something you weren't supposed to know about until the end."

Knowing the Giant wasn't one for secrecy, Hogarth eyed him with a slight smile.

"This isn't something to smile about."

The expression faded. "Something's wrong." He said plainly. Something was _wrong._

"I really don't want to talk about this." The Giant said with a deep heaviness that befell to his mood, the white of his eyes wavered to a slight azure. "If you want to know, I'll tell."

"There's nothing you can't tell me, pal." Hogarth tried encouraging. "I won't get angry."

"You will." He retaliated in a composed voice, his true, straight-forward nature showed.

"What is it called?"

"A cognitive condenser."

Hogarth worked the words around in his mind. _Cognition - awareness, perception. Then condense - minimize to the smallest degree possible. Cognitive; mind. Condenser; gone._

"It evaporates minds?" He said in total disbelief. How many B-movies had this been in?

What the Giant said next hardly put his mind at ease. "It erases memories."

To be continued…


	35. Pt 10: Desert daze

I.

~_~_~_~

The words 'memory eraser' didn't quite register in Hogarth's range of understanding or logic, added to it were things like 'transmutation' and 'cyborg'. All of these things in his time were fantasy and fiction, they were things he had loved to read about and imagine at intervals through out the day. Hogarth found, however, that he didn't want them a reality.

"Memory eraser…? As in, _my _memories."

"And all of Rockwell's."

Hogarth felt part of his mind numb up. "I-I'm not really following you, Giant."

_It wouldn't be the first time._

"The only way the Council agreed to let you come is if I did this."

"You mean, you were going to wait until the last domino fell in place before even hinting at this." Hogarth's face took on its hardened look, the 'Garth Hughes' look. "I should've known there was a major catch to this." He grumbled under his breath. "I'm so stupid…"

The Giant tried calming him down. "Hogarth, if you'll just..."

"Does Taylor know?" He shot him a look.

"No."

"So she doesn't know that you chose the Council over your own friends."

The Giant ignored this. "Inx was going to tell her before she teleported there." He held up the silver object that was a teleporter, any sign of glumness indistinguishable in his eyes or voice. "And no_,_" he added deliberately. "I would never choose them over you both."

"Could've fooled me." Hogarth said between his teeth, hands clenching back and forth.

"I didn't have a choice." The Giant tried to tell him, becoming agitated.

"Don't bull-shit yourself, Giant! Making your choices is something you know better than anyone else!" His tirade lessened as a plea hit his eyes and voice. "You're my best friend, Giant." He found he could no longer ignore the truth. "I don't want to _forget _about you!"

Hogarth watched the Giant's composure waver. "You're mine too." He said.

"But not enough to reconsider this." The young man's voice retook its sharp edge.

"This isn't something I want to do, Hogarth." His baritone voice also grew firmer.

"But you're still going to!" He retaliated. "I'm not even so much upset about this as I am your keeping this from Taylor and myself." Hogarth glanced over at the flat rock; traces of crispy egg scraps still lay about. "They say keep your friends close and your enemies closer, sometimes I think that could go either way for us." he said, sighing heavily at this.

"What!?" The Giant said incredulously.

"I said," Hogarth whirled on him. "I'm not living in question of who my friends are!"

"I _am _your friend, Hogarth." He thwacked his metal chest, fighting to control himself.

"Then stop acting like you can do no wrong and start acting like yourself!"

Hogarth kept his glare but took a few steps back as the Giant brought up a closed-toe iron foot upon the sandstone cliff, and brought his hand down to bring Hogarth up to his level.

"I'll get on your hand when I damn well feel like I can trust you again!"

The Giant quickly withdrew it back, blinking hard.

Hogarth caught himself. "I didn't mean that, Giant." He said ruefully.

"But you did." He swerved his twenty-foot-six arm around and laid it on the cliff's edge.

"You're coming down to my level." Hogarth noted with an even tone now.

"Am I not welcomed on it anymore?" The Giant asked matter-of-factly.

His firm-lined brows lifted a bit. "You're always welcomed, Giant."

"And you're welcomed on mine."

Hogarth somehow managed to keep his cool. "Giant, when it comes right down to it, I'm only sure of a few things in life. One, I'm human. Two, there's a greater good commonly referred to as God and three, all my family and friends. Giant, what's the other reason?"

He drew closer. "It's because of me you and Taylor are here. I thought this way; you both could be together and happy." His chalky eyes flickered blue as he straightened in height.

"I'd be happier just having half a year's worth of memories!" Hogarth exclaimed, tossing his hands up in the air. "Giant, I'd stay here all my life if it meant I could remember you."

"You would?" He eyed Hogarth closely, oddly. "You--- Hogarth, you don't belong---."

"Neither do you! Oh, sure, this is where you're from. But you don't _belong _here Giant."

"I'm sorry, Hogarth." The Giant concluded. "This is something they're counting on."

"Well," He stepped up just as firmly. "Here's something the futures didn't count on and that's my say in the matter. Giant, this is something _I _should decide. Will you let me…?"

"… Yes."

"Then do it now." Hogarth hung his head and clenched his fists, an ache came to his throat.

"Hogarth…" The Giant protested sadly.

"Do it now, Giant!" His friend fiercely demanded. "Do it, teleport me back to Rockwell and finish the mission on your _own_---." The last word came out a half-croak, like the crack of a young boy's voice before hitting puberty. "Spare me the hurt." He requested weakly.

There a shuddering breath and Hogarth heard the sounds of something powering up. "The numbers of memories in this container are four-hundred." An indifferent automated voice said. "Please select the specific ones and imprints to the chosen ones minds will become activated. Once this occurs (insert time length) memories permanently are suppressed."

"I am sorry, Hogarth." The Giant's voice traveled sincerely.

"… Dean McCoppin: age 38. Annetta McCoppin: age 39. Daniel Barnes: Age 66. Robert Evans: age 42. Trisha Evans: age 35. Taylor Evans: age 17. Hogarth Hughes: also 17…"

_What intricate detail. _Hogarth thought bitterly. "Good-bye, buddy."

"… Julianne McCoppin: age 7…"

He thought he heard the Giant repeat his sister's name.

"I'm coming." Hogarth said quietly, promising to his sister.

"All eight names selected," He braced himself to be teleported. "And preserved."

Hogarth looked up at the Giant with the stupidest look of disbelief on his face.

The iron leviathan smiled cleverly. "Do you think I would _ever_ let you forget about me?"

A look of elation swept over his face before he grinned and gave his head a shake. "Well honestly, you are a pretty unforgettable guy Giant." Hogarth admitted in very open relief.

"I would always choose you and Taylor, Hogarth. " He said pointedly.

"I knew that," Hogarth stepped up into the offered palm. "What will you do with it?"

"I'm not sure." The Giant said with a heavy sigh. Hogarth looked at him understandingly.

"Well," He nudged him against the arm. "It's always your choice," Hogarth crossed his arms. "The Garth man officially welcomes you back to Coolsville my main metal man."

An interested look struck his white eyes. "Hmm? Coolsville?" he said in remembrance.

"Yep."

The Giant chuckled. "Population?"

Then, in unison, they pointed at themselves. "_Us_."

~_~_~_~

"Drock?" The man groaned wearily as he rode atop the shoulder of his droid.

He rolled his eyes at his spouse's continued complaints. "Yes, Drick."

"It would appear solid metal isn't plentiful enough for transmutation."

Drock brushed the spot from under his feet on top of his Giant clone's shoulder. "Mmm."

"Any incoming news on how many droid operators are coming?" Drick asked anxiously.

He shook his head at the man's worry and looked over his needle-thin updater. "They are very sufficient numbers anyway. However, they are not enough to counter the numbers of Giant droids yet. There is a diminishing number due their eliminating the weaker copies."

"Oh, how?"

"Cannibalism."

"So much for the absurd notions of droid equality." He sighed. "Let us start before those famed outcasts can find us. You still have connections to the rogue droids, right Drock?"

"Yes," He didn't smile slyly as Drick did. "They will be awaiting the two's arrival."

~_~_~_~_~

The Giant watched as Hogarth packed smaller objects into a knapsack, six carriers filled with oxygen canisters, a metallic beverage container and what could have been a six-foot- tall juicer (the metal liquidizer) were stationed nearby to be transmuted when the two left.

"And I guess that means people like my third grade math teacher and Kent Mansley come from Lamestown." Hogarth joked. "He never got over my whizzing through subtraction."

This moment brought forth an opportunity. "Whatever happened to him?"

"Who? My third grade math teacher?"

The Giant approached the subject cautiously. "No, Kent." He watched Hogarth pause in mid-action of picking up his helmet; this was something they had avoided talking about from the very start. Slowly, Hogarth turned to him. "What happened after I left that day?"

There was an almost haunted look to his friend's face; a grim, deeply reserved look. The Giant wished instantly that he could take it back, but he knew he was already in too deep.

"There are three things I don't talk about, Giant." Hogarth finally said and his voice was point-blank in its refusal. "My father, the day after we first got here." He deliberately let his gaze swerve downwards. "Or that particular day you mentioned. I don't talk about it."

They met eyes again.

"Hogarth," The Giant tried pressing, remembering Taylor's encouragement.

"_No_, Giant." He rebuked firmly, keeping eye contact. "It's in the past."

"Maybe sometime…" The idea of never talking about it seemed surreal.

"Giant!" Hogarth barely kept from exploding, caught himself and considered what he was going to say. "You weren't going to go behind my back and activate that memory thing."

"Of course not." The Giant said calmly.

"Would you respect my stand on the Rockwell matter and not bring it up again?"

"Not if you don't want me to, Hogarth."

A sheepish smile started on his face. "And you can totally accept the fact that I'm being a pretty unreasonable guy here?" The Giant smiled a little in turn, rubbing arm bulked arm.

"Under the circumstances, I don't blame you." He said.

Hogarth came around full circle. "Well, we should be acting like partners here. So I'll tell you what, how about this…" He gave his knuckles a crack. "After this is over with, when and _if _you decide to come back to the sixties, we can both talk about anything you want."

"Everything?" The Giant asked hopefully.

There was a moment of commitment summoning. "Yes, anything and everything you'd like. But you probably shouldn't decide right away." Hogarth suggested, trying not to put anymore pressure on him. "Okay," he thumped his mind and heart before holding out his hand to the Giant, mustering a smile. "So, what'd you say partner? Do we have a deal?"

He also took a moment to consider before shaking Hogarth's hand between his finger and thumb. "Deal." In a flash, all of the items except for the original design of the IG Double H T-Bird Supe de coupe were around. "If this works out, will tell me your dad's name?"

"Johnston." Hogarth said automatically, and changed the subject just as quickly. "Well," he grinned down at the vehicle-plane hybrid. "I think you ate enough metal to hold out."

~_~_~_~

"I do _not _believe solid metal was not enough to hold our droids out!" Drick complained.

"If you would like my opinion, Drick, it would seem you detest being found or outdone by Garth Hughes more then you detest scrounging for metal to liquefy for our droids to drink." Drock noted as they reluctantly helped the giant robots collect all the shards of metal they could find to smelt in their metal liquidizing chamber. "Tedious a task as it is."

"How does it work anyway?" The brown-haired man asked wearily, mopping his brow.

"Well, the solid metal is heated like a smith would do only intensified. This makes---."

Drock paused when he noticed his 'significant' other lounging under the high noon shade of the liquidizer, and continued to collect metal even though he, himself, was hot. As the man grinned to himself at the thought of the wise-cracking outsider and his suck-up of a droid searching in vain for metal, one copy came up to drop metal pieces in behind him.

"Yoooow!" He yelped in pain, fanning his backside as the liquidizer heated up.

Someone snickered.

~_~_~_~

"So according to this thing," Hogarth said tiredly as he read an electric screen board type of manual. "Liquid metal is nutritious fuel for maintaining a lasting transmutation form."

"You don't say." The Giant remarked, a rare hint of sarcasm in his baritone voice.

"Well," Hogarth tried grinning his way, pushing back at his tied-up hair as he draped the blazer over one shoulder. "I would think the first transmuting droid would know all this."

"So says the founder of transmutation itself."

"Hey pal, I'm an _accidental_ founder."

"And I can accidentally transmute." The Giant argued plainly.

"Careful," Hogarth brought up his hands, karate style. "Don't set off action alchemist." A concerned look in the Giant's eyes made him bring his arms down. "What's the matter?"

"Your face is red." He noted and laid out a hand for Hogarth to board. "Here, why don't you rest?" His offered palm was brushed away. "You've been walking for several hours."

"And as long as I have the strength to keep going, I'm going to walk." Hogarth insisted. "It's not like when I was a kid, I'm not riding on you like a carnival toy." His feet now dragged.

"Its cooler up here with a breeze, you'll have more strength to walk even further…" The Giant tempted.

"I'm not really an advocate of peer pressure." Hogarth told him with his arms crossed, he saw the unmistakable disappointment that showed and climbed aboard the hand. "Well, if it'll speed us up." It was hard to stop smiling at the robot's enthusiasm as he transitioned.

"Make yourself at home." He said as Hogarth leapt up to the sleek arc of the shoulder, the extent of his hospitality was tested, though, as he found a pair of muddy bare feet crossed at the ankles only inches from his visage. "Hogarth, I didn't mean make _me_ into a home."

"Wow, I forgot what a birds-eye view you have from up here." He commented, shifting around so he was laying the other way.

"It does help to stay out of arguments." The Giant offered with a chuckle.

"It's tough being at the top, huh?"

"Well, it's nice to have some company once in a while." he suddenly grew adventurous. "Let's go find some metal!"

Hogarth nodded welcomingly at the challenge.

~_~_~_~

Drick and Drock stood grinning at one another as their droids were about to empty their arms of metal into the liquidizer. The sum of the collection would prove excellent for at least two of the four days left to America. They would leave their baggage behind (those ignorant, famous duo), meet up with the other droid operators to plan on how they would reprogram the Giant clones and then bask in the glory of being hailed as worldly heroes.

"Excuse me," An open-hatch green transmuted droid pulled up in between them, the man was African American in descent and young. "It has come to the awareness of the district Ardennes proprietor that you've poached a recovering species, do you know the severity of committing such negligence and of the fragile nature of these unfertilized mountains?"

"But…" Drick gaped. "We never were informed of rules concerning the fauna."

"Actually, we were." Drock told him, resigned to being born a compulsive truth-teller.

"Well," The man expressed no sympathy on their part. "Perhaps you and your droids will learn a thing or two in front of Belgium's council." He relieved them of their controllers.

~_~_~_~

The scorching heat was terribly sticky and uncomfortable; everywhere sweltering waves rose and made endless sand-filled scenery have a rippling effect. In the distance came a large figure gradually trudging his way with seas of baking granules under his large feet.

"This sun." Hogarth sat upon the moving shoulder fanning himself. "Even this suit can't beat the heat." He turned to see that the Giant was growing tired. "Lookin' tuckered out."

"Who? Me?" He gave his friend a sure look. "I'm just…" his shutters swiveled inwards.

"Hey, look!"

His indication revealed a line of black about a hundred yards from where they stood, an enraptured look fell over the Giant's weary white eyes and his mandible turned jittery in a longing breathe. "Metal! Do you see it all, Hogarth? Right out there?" he asked in a daze.

"Giant, I think you may be a little delusional. Maybe you should sit down and _wah!_"

Hogarth found himself scooped off the shoulder and securely fastened between a pair of iron fingers enclosed in a force field, the frantic jog jumbled him around as the robot was thundering forward. "Wait…" his pace slowed and he opened his fingers. "It isn't metal."

"I tried telling you." Hogarth mentioned, sliding off his lowered hand. "Desert-like terrain is notorious for mirages, pal." He sighed and gave the Giant's arm a sympathetic pat as he made his way forward. "I'm sure there's an oasis or some… thing… My God, water."

~_~_~_~

Now that the Giant saw more clearly, he could tell what the objects were: cactuses.

"Actually, Hogarth, it's-." He looked around his arching legs and saw his friend had left.

"It's water!" Hogarth shouted happily, zippering out of his jumpsuit and charging toward what shimmered like water with nothing to cover his muscle-toned body except shorts. "I can't believe it! Can you, IG?" The Giant placed a hand down to hinder his hurried pace.

"I can believe it, because it isn't water." He said factually.

"What're you talking about it?" Hogarth scrambled over the iron hand, and was about to dive in to what he thought was an oasis when he was scooped up and forced to see closer.

"_Look," _The Giant emphasized by holding the young man only a foot from the big, green prickled plants. "Cactuses." He backed off as Hogarth regained his composure, stepping back and taking his discarded clothes. "Sorry, I just didn't think you'd want to feel that."

"Thanks for the wake-up Giant." Hogarth laughed a little and collapsed against his large foot, the two sat down with a collected intake of breathe. He looked around and saw that the sun was receding in the west. "Plants… that means, there's greenery going that way."

The Giant gave him a falling-front shutter look. "How long until we reach Rockwell?"

"According to tracker do-dad… four days and three nights." Hogarth felt himself sober at his next thoughts. "And that means ninety-six hours until we see Kina again." He looked up at the Giant. "Why don't we rest up for tonight and get an early search for metal in the morning? That way it'll still be cool and we can liquid it up so we can fly when it's hot."

"Sounds good to me, I think I can get through tonight." His stomach groaned a little.

Hogarth grinned. "We'll find so much metal one of these days, it'll put Dean's junk yard to shame." He humored him. "Man, I'm really looking forward to going home after this."

"I know." The Giant said empathically.

Before anymore could be said on the matter, there went light jets streaking across the sky.

To be continued…


	36. Part 11: Of songs and stories

I.

The Giant watched the scene of a multitude of white streaking meteors falling with an agape look, his own large lit orbs darting around the twilight sky frantically. They were falling in slants far beyond the twosome into the shadowy humps of the cactus forestry.

"Hogarth," he finally asked, sounding hot and bothered. "What are these things?"

The seventeen-year-old cast an assuring look up at this friend, trying not to let any of his amusement at the iron man's overwhelmed reaction show. "They're called shooting stars, pal." He explained calmly. "Completely safe - unless one hits your head, of course -."

"Shooting stars, huh?" His dome head cocked to the side. "I've never seen any before."

Hogarth wandered around his crooked legs from where he sat. "Pretty _far-out_, huh?"

"Mmm." The Giant began to agree before glancing downwards. "Want to watch them?"

He couldn't resist the temptation as he pulled out a mini, digital telescope Inx had slipped him. "I thought you'd never ask." Hogarth said coolly, spinning the device in his fingers.

An hour later found them on a somewhat higher plain looking up at the blue-black sky as it was awash in splatters of milk-white discharge from the sheer power of the meteors as they streaked across. The Giant laid his gargantuan metal body upon a smooth sandstone plateau as Hogarth lounged his back against his metallic shoulder, discussing astronomy.

"What's that constellation called, Hogarth?" He asked as he focused the black scope right in between his large fingers, digitally captured the shot and passed the tiny-in-comparison object. He took it from the bolted behemoth and peered inside. The ivory glare had faded completely by the pixels inside and a brilliant shape of stars was photographed in the lens.

_There are some parts of the future I love. _Hogarth thought to himself. "Well, this is what they call the Orion constellation." He lectured casually, the way they had in the past. "There stars were called 'The Hunter'. Ah, yeah, and these three clusters make up sub-parts."

"Hmm?"

"Here, I'll explain… you see the most prominent of the Orion or one of the most is called the Alnilam. I forget its Arabic name, but it's said to be one of the most powerfully bright stars in the sky. If I remember right, the star itself means a dear who is slain by a hunter."

Hogarth could have slapped himself in the face for mentioning that. He grimaced at the memory and glanced up at the Giant, but he only kept his eyes trained to the stars. There seemed to be a little hesitation, and then the Giant inquired. "Can deer have inner stars?"

He sighed heavily. "No." Determined to keep to his faith, Hogarth gave a leg up and went around facing the Giant on top of his metal chest. "_But_," He explained carefully. "Even if animals don't have souls, that doesn't mean they're any less important." The return of the inner spark in his eyes encouraged him. "Ah," he sat down. "That's the guy I remember."

"What do you mean by that?" Hogarth was eyed curiously.

A reminiscent grin crossed his face. "The overly-curious, easy-to-excite robot I happened across in my backwoods." He told him, a little wistful. "Not this critical hypochondriac I feel like you want me to buy into." With that, Hogarth slipped off the giant iron shoulder.

"I'm that bad, huh?" The Giant sat up and turned around to look down at him.

"I don't blame you." He replied, crossing his arms uncomfortably. "But I'm not looking for a warden or even a protector; I'm looking for my old friend. And I mean, you're still my buddy and all Giant, but you have the social skills of an autistic twelve-year-old…"

"…Well," The robot showed a willingness towards Hogarth as he grouped together a sort of boulder-hut and hollowed out a place for him to get into. "We'll work on it tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me." He paused from going inside and looked up as the Giant gazed into the sky again, the long-gone stars having left streak trails in the inky overview. "I wonder when we'll see the whales." His deep, resonant voice wondered aloud into the cool desert nighttime.

_Of course he'd have taken to them in Iceland. _"Hey, big metal guy." Hogarth caught his attention. "Remember all those big eagles we saw?" He nodded. "Well, back in our time they use to be endangered. I'm thinking they must be all about conservation in this time."

"You think…" The Giant started.

"I do." Hogarth said seriously, though his own excitement was building behind his smile. "I'll bet they have whole reservations for whales. In fact, seeing how much the world has changed," He frowned up at the depleted hemisphere. "I'll bet there's no more hunting."

The next minute or so was to try and remind the Giant that it might not be possible, but as it was growing late they called it a night. "I think I'll stay out here and be on meteorite watch." He volunteered and got ready to settle in for the night, but hesitated a moment. "Hogarth…"

"Yeah." His head stuck out of the rock igloo.

"I'm glad you came."

He grinned before ducking back in. "Good night, Giant."

"Good night."

When the Giant was alone, he allowed the awesome idea to settle into the far reaches of his mind. _No more hunting. _The idea was too great for words. He had spent six years exploring his glacier, protecting all the marine life and keeping would-be poachers away from them. A peace, even for the life loss of the Washington D.C. volunteers, engulfed his entire inner self.

"No more hunting." He closed his eyes happily at the thought. "Whole reservations of whales."

The Giant thought of telling Taylor later on.

Hogarth laid his back against the smooth, cool sandstone as nighttime peered through cracks of the orange covered grey stones, secretly praying that his prediction would bring the Giant out of any sort of problems he was having. The young man knew his friend had dealt with a lot and he felt awfully selfish for having gone off on him earlier; Hogarth knew that he had to try protecting the Giant in his own way. Though, he knew he could never truly compare himself to his friend's heroics. There was no possible way Hogarth could ever be as selfless as the Giant.

II.

The Mediterranean Sea, morning…

All around the water was flat as they traveled, predictably their 'mentors' signals were ahead of their own. Hogarth's and the Giant's instructions were to travel through to Japan. Although reassured that all differences in places in Iraq and Afghanistan were relatively peaceful, there was still some reserve about flying near places like North and South Korea that Hogarth had.

Looking up from electronically researching different customs, all forms of currency were dead and 'free' market trade dominated everywhere, Hogarth saw that the Giant's image wasn't in front of the control panel. Figuring he was still getting use to his transmuted systems, Hogarth sat back in his chair and propped his leg up on his knee. The song he had heard when he had first met Taylor came into his mind and he began absentmindedly humming the Beatle's tune.

When Hogarth looked up the Giant was watching him curiously swing his foot in rhythm at the apparently unusual sound. "What's that noise you're making, Hogarth?" he asked him amiably.

"Um, music?"

The Giant kept staring, uncomprehending. "I've heard the word, but I don't know what it is."

Hogarth sat up incredulously. "Unbelievable! I can't believe you wouldn't have picked up on it already. Of course," he stroked the beard he no longer had. "Maybe music chips weren't part of the installation package," He turned to him willingly. "Try to match the beat of my hands."

In a smooth, quick pace Hogarth rat-at-tatted against the armrests while singing 'duh-duh-day –uh- duh-duh-duh.' The Giant tried without much luck to copy these movements. "Music isn't something that's learned, Giant." He explained, picking up on the fact that his friend's normal quick-study abilities were being challenged. "It's something inside your soul, something _felt_."

"I'm not so sure about the soul part anymore." The Giant said doubtfully.

"You've got humanity, Giant." Hogarth countered. "Who says it has to be limited to _humans_? And in anyway, we probably just haven't found your rhythm yet." He went on to say. After a few more tries where they attempted to have the Giant repeat a beat, he gave up on trying.

"It's incredible. Maybe you're right, Hogarth, but I think robots only know through learning."

He hated to see him dejected. Though as Hogarth went back to humming quietly to himself and reading over a screen board that elaborated on how the Ominish language worked, the Giant noticed his foot swaying back and forth. He watched carefully at it's concentrated pace, and twisted one of his side-view mirrors, which gave a squeak sound to it. He then tried at the right one. Hogarth peered up at him; the Giant was smiling from some of his accomplishment.

With a conspiring grin, they both began taking the next few minutes to collaborate on it. "In the forest, the mighty Maine forest, the robot sleeps tonight." Hogarth sang in a gentle tenor.

"… Buh-buh-buh-buh…" The Giant sang along in the background. "… buh-buh-buh-buh."

"… He tried to munch on a power plant, and gets saved by a kid no bigger then an ant… then he tries to snack on some off-limit tracks but there's a consequence and here are the facts…"

As they picked up tempo, Hogarth gestured for the Giant to try it. Taking a steady breath, he began to try matching his words with the beat. "… They go out to find some metal, and find a junk yard. It turns out even if they're in trouble, convincing the scrap owner wasn't too hard."

By now, every single item was whacked and every last movable object was twisted and turned inside. "A meddling agent thinks he's going to find the robot out and so he searches all about."

"….Buh-buh-buh-buh…" the base voice harmonized well with Hogarth's. "Buh-buh-buh-buh."

"He finds some clues, but can't find them, so he's fightin' the blues."

An idea occurred to the Giant then. "And even though they foil him, there's more to the robot then it seems." He sang more confidently, ignoring hesitance. "His eyes shoot out laser beams."

"But it turns out in the end." Hogarth sped up the song. "He chose to be Superman."

Even as he tried to end things there, the Giant kept pushing forward. "They have to prove to everyone he's more then a threat." His base voice grew careful. "Even if it means having to let..."

Hogarth slowed with the song as well, keeping steady. "… Go of what he doesn't want to…"

"… and the boy the size of an ant looks like he doesn't know what to do…"

"…so all he does is to stand still…"

The Giant lowered his front shutters. "… and _this_ is the way he had to feel…"

Hogarth shut his mouth and leaned back, glaring silently at the Giant.

"You're not stopping it there, are you?" He offered guiltily.

His glare deepened. "Not funny, IG. I thought we could catch up and hang out, but you try to pull something like this." He crossed his arms and glowered out the window. "Way to kill all the fun."

"I need to check on some things in the back, anyway." The Giant said quietly, bleeping out.

Hogarth looked forward and felt some regret; he had meant well. "Ah, come on back will you? I was just being a jerk." No resurface. "Giant, come on, everyone slips up. I want-."

He popped back up onto the screen. "Take a look outside."

Curiously, Hogarth peered out and saw that creatures were diving in and out of the ocean. "Check it out! Dolphins." He chuckled at the sight of the migrating marine mammals, a flash of color entered his eyes and he looked up to see that the Giant had changed back.

"Well," He looked down at Hogarth cupped in his hands, "You did say to check it out."

"Hey, look, about before-." His words were lost as the Giant dipped his fingers in the water and a strong, surging flow pelted him. "Hey, pal, you're lucky this isn't salt water!"

"I forgive myself too." The robot claimed casually as he flew out over the open waters.

An idea suddenly hit Hogarth and he grinned in inspiration. "Hey, try lowering me down again." He urged as a lot of dolphins leapt up. "It'll be just like jet-powered _water skies_!"

Also entertained by that idea, the Giant lowered his friend down and an enormous spray of water engulfed around Hogarth as he leaned back into the iron thumbs behind him. A deep burst of energy erupted inside of him. "Whooo-yaaaaaaaaaaah!" he screamed as the exhilaration pumped through his body, a wildly genuine grin opened across his light face.

The Giant brought his mandible open in a near grin as well, and pressed his large face up against a great wave of water that poured over him in a tremendous sheet. They both gave one another psyched looks before calming down a little more; Hogarth could not imagine the last time he had felt as alive as he switched to sitting in the Giant's right hand. It was obvious his iron friend felt the same way as he made a finger hoop for a jumping dolphin.

"Nice one." Hogarth commented.

The Giant rotated his wrists around and swung his whole self over to fly upside-down.

"All right, Giant, no one likes a show-off."

He straightened up. "Sorry."

"Hey," Hogarth folded his arms smugly. "You're taking me somewhere, aren't you?"

"Mmm… maybe."

"Cool, I love surprises… gonna tell me?"

"Nope." The Giant said briskly.

"Was worth a try."

"You'll see, its better this way. I looked it up on something called Goggle this morning-."

His words froze solid.

"What's wrong?" Hogarth inquired.

When he looked up he wished with all his might that he could look back down.

"Hogarth…" The Giant spoke his name in absolute disbelief.

All he could do was to lower his helmet over his face, it being motorcycle-like, and slide the shaded shield up. The giant iron automaton rose up in the air where the start of what looked to be a clear-vaulted wall rose up miles above them. In a complete daze, the two drifted inward and the surreal sight below cast the pair into a world that felt impossible.

An unbearable stench engulfed Hogarth's nostrils and he slid the shield all the way, what looked to be massive water-washed-and-acid-eaten stomachs lay across what appaulingly could have been miles of contaminated waste strewn along the surface. The Giant's breath came out in a shocking, seizure-like shudder as he drifted down to a calm, dark brown eye staring up at him. This creature's body was a navy blue with a massive skeleton shown.

His white eyes grew deep and heavy in heartache, he reached out with his fingers curling and his arms stretched to encircle. The deep loss penetrated them both; but one more then anyone. These creatures - for six years after Rockwell - had been his entire life. There was not one day that went by, not a moment that passed, that he had not watched over them.

"Giant, I'm so sorry." Hogarth apologized solemnly. As the robot drew nearer, he backed around behind his friend's head. "But you've got to back up and keep flying. See all that nasty-looking junk? That's toxic waste. If you don't keep moving it'll get in my lungs…"

"…No, no." He cried in his softest voice, wanting to stroke the whale's remains.

"Giant!" Hogarth snapped loudly, burying himself in the deep crevice of the Giant's neck as his exposed arms itched. "Snap out of it." He told the Giant in a firm voice. _"Fly,"_ he was partly afraid for his own safety, and partly afraid for his friend's sanity. "_I'll_ die too."

His dome head lowered and his left fist clenched in concentrated fury, the people below them cleaning up the mess shrank away at a display of anger. Some of them ducked into their floating boat crafts, and a few looked like they would faint. They knew this was the grand-daddy of all droids in the world and no one wanted to get in his way if he was mad.

Hogarth, understandingly, stayed where he was. At the sight of the Giant's big right hand searching around for him in the back, Hogarth wordlessly took hold of the curling fingers and allowed himself to be carried onto the large metal shoulder. Cupping his charge with both of his hands, the Giant traveled up into the air, glanced back once and kept on going.

When they had reached a healthy altitude, he could no longer hold back his emotions and broke down into a hefty, heaving sob. The pain ripped through him as there was only one other time he remembered being like this; when he had seen Hogarth lying motionless in a snow drift all that time ago. Drowning in sorrow, the Giant covered his face. He then felt the heaviness of his emotions about to weigh him down when a hand lay against him.

At the touch, the Giant turned to see Hogarth had moved out from under the hand, helmet off, with his hand resting against his iron cheek. A great focus connected Hogarth's deep blue eyes right into his. "They meant everything to you once, didn't they?" he remarked.

Taken aback by this, the Giant experienced a fracture of grief subsiding. "They were my… family."

"And you loved them." Hogarth added levelly, placing his arms inside his bent legs.

Suddenly, almost irrationally, desperate not to lose him, the large robot reached a slightly shaky, hesitant hand up to him. Hogarth sensed people below staring up at them as he put his hand against him and the Giant leaned in, the one link that kept him from unraveling.

"Giant," Hogarth caught his attention. "No matter how bad things get, and no matter what we witness on this journey, good overcomes evil in the end." He promised him earnestly.

In a somewhat less shaken voice, the automaton inquired. "God?"

"God." He turned his attention to the distance and sighed once. "Why don't you get some rest, Giant? Sleeping through this will help you. I can fly for a while…" The Giant gave a skeptical look at that idea. "What?" Hogarth smiled slightly. "I've flown before in a local crop duster." he worriedly patted his friend's face. "This was heavy, you need your rest."

Dazedly, his large head bobbed up and down in a nod. Without looking he reached up to Hogarth and within three taps they had transmuted again. This time the young man found that all the controls had gone dark as a result of the Giant checking himself off into dream –land. The craft lingered in mid-air as Hogarth slipped out the pink module to insert it in.

"Rest up, pal." He said gently as he pulled back the pin-ball-like slot and released it. "I'll take it from here." Hogarth felt his eyes moisten a bit as he continued over the graveyard.

"Drick."

"Yeah, Drock?"

"You are an idiot."

The two watched from where they were below in their rain suits and gas masks as they cleaned up the toxic waste pools grudingly. Many people below were laboring to keep all of the pollutants from entering the fresh water, it was all they could do to make things right.

To be continued…


	37. An airenous mission: Part 1 of 2

I.

Re-relocated back to Honolulu Island…

"And you see kids," A young woman dressed in deep blue clothing with her dark blonde hair secured up in a bun said. "The agriculture of our world is grown with the help of farming droids in otherwise self-sufficient greenhouse domes, remember your studies for tonight."

The children with the less experience at futuristic mannerisms clamored out of the ocean-open paneled wall. Once the view inside the computer one-way room had emptied up, the teacher signaled out of the connection and patted her rotund stomach with a deep breath.

"My Lanta," Taylor sat down and let the personable look fall from her face. Amazingly, a teaching certificate took all of one week to obtain (since people had many occupations in the future) and she had gotten the easiest one - the most detested - Global Studies 101.

"It is amazing that you do not have to stand in front of one of those ancient chalkboards, correct?" Inx grinned from the doorway, lounging cockily against the sliding frame. He was in one of his rare laid-back moods; one he would assume when it was just them both.

"What's more amazing is how the Giant's orb sped up my pregnancy," She groaned at his lazy smirk, before becoming rather frantic again. "I know you explained about Pygmy's rapid growth and how that triggered it, but even this doesn't feel normal for the future."

The Asian man saw her anxiety and turned sympathetic. "Taylor," he came over to take her hands. "I am sorry, but you more than anyone should know the consequences of the future. No one knew this could happen, and it is not certain what will be the result of it."

"I have to call Hogarth…" She kept panicking. "And the Giant, I have to let them both-."

"_Taylor_," Inx grasped her face in his hands, brown eyes burning with resolution. "I swore I would not let anything happen to you while they were gone, and I meant it. My dear, the medical staff have already performed tests on you and you are being monitored." He laid a hand against her swollen belly. "The orb is now finishing its last developmental stages."

"How is Pygmy doing?" Taylor tried to steer the direction off of her, smiling meekly.

This time a good-natured grin flashed across his face.

II.

Greece…

Hogarth steered his way over the many rolling hills of arid land, he remembered how the Giant's original clones had made a large impact when they had fell to the earth nearly one century ago, but he never knew how much of an impact it would have on the environment. Moreover, Hogarth had never known for sure how much of an impact it would have on the sole-surviving original droid from that crash, and as such he felt obligated to assist.

"One day and one night," The seventeen-year-old sighed to himself, sipping on three-day old herbal tea they had savaged from the sandstorm a few days ago. His friend had stayed off-line for a good twenty-four hours. "Well, at least I've learned to fly him in this time."

A spark of light on the console board took Hogarth by surprise; the sounds of a deep and burly snore rattled the insides of the craft. Clutching onto the armrests and trying his best not to let the relief-induced grin spread too wide across his face, Hogarth watched as the Giant's strobe-lit image brightly flickered to life in front of him in a mellowed-out state.

"Hogarth…?" He asked in a loud, drawn-out yawn that eclipsed the earlier sound.

"Hey, pal." The glad smile couldn't stay off his face as he tried his best to assume what he hoped was a casual, flying pose. "Been wonderin' when you'd wake up. Sleep well?"

A dreamily detached expression lingered on the Giant's face. "Mmm… where are we?"

"Somewhere in Greece." Hogarth answered, coolly directing a toggle switch in his hand.

This jolted him to become fully awake. "You don't know where we are?"

"I checked our location out as soon as we hit the continent and by my own geographical expertise, unless the tectonic plates in the mountain ranges have shifted greatly in the last hundred years, we should be on course." He held up a leaf-thin GPS. "Drick and Drock."

"Their signals are behind us." The Giant noted concernedly.

"And that's a bad thing?"

"What about that coordinates module thing Archer gave you?" He pressed on.

Hogarth leaned back and folded his arms behind his head, directing a smile up at the pink cylinder that hung by a string where the ceiling and wind shield met. "I think it makes a pretty funky accessory myself." he caught the Giant's unamused expression and replaced his cool attitude with a more serious one. "I actually spoke with the man this morning…"

"…Is Taylor all right?" The Giant asked curiously.

"Just fine." Hogarth assured him. "She's going through some sort of motherly-crisis but she'll talk with us on the next transmission." He sighed and sat up with his fingers laced on his lap. "Giant, the scientist guys have done some tests and they've got a conclusion."

He cocked his head.

"The portal in Rockwell won't become active until January the 2nd." Hogarth frowned in equal width with the Giant's. "Sorry, pal. But it's gonna be-." A sudden, blaring noise overlapped his conversation, and they both were thrown into a rather unusual catastrophe.

_Oxygen deprivation alert! _The words shone in bright red.

Immediately, the Giant was quick to react. "Taylor taught me all I'd ever need to know about this." He said confidently and extended a helmet out for Hogarth to take. "You'll need this." Once the young man had fastened in place the emergency canister, they went forward. The atmospheres made attempted crushing pressure noises against the outside.

"Giant, we're taking on gravitational pull here!"

"I've got this under control." He said calmly as an automatic belt shot around Hogarth.

"I can't even move!" His hands gestured around. "Don't you think you're going slightly over-," he found his wrists buckled down to the armrests and finished flatly. "-board?"

"Just hold on Hogarth." A mechanical hand plucked the cylinder off, and worked it back into the now restrained jolter compartment. "Try to read me the coordinates… quickly!"

A little agitatedly, he read as carefully and speedily as he could. The craft started to make zigzagging angles as the tough-looking outer shell of a transparent dome came upon them; not unlike that back in Washington D.C. Hogarth braced himself as they shot downwards like an out-of-water-goldfish rushing down to reunite with its large, sanctified glass bowl.

The airplane-car hybrid made a clear nosedive into the solid earth and channeled up what amazingly turned out to be dark-soiled green top. Hogarth stumbled around a little as the blue energy fizzled away, he shook his head a little to recover from the rushed experience.

"Whoo! Talk about a crash-landing." He turned to the robot. "Giant, I can see the need to be pretty careful out here, but that was going a little - _woah_!" Hogarth found himself up in the air being critically examined with frantic white eyes. "Giant, what are you doing?"

"I'm just checking." He answered as if crucial examination were normal.

"Well, stop." Hogarth retorted slightly, slipping out of his hands. "Breathe a little."

He gasped loudly and scooped him up again. "Do you have enough oxygen?" The Giant asked sporadically, panicking at the removed air wear. "Are you _breathing_, Hogarth…!"

"Giant!" Hogarth clasped onto his lower mouth jutting out. "You're wigging out on me in hyper-drive here!" he turned very concerned at his friend's neurotic behavior as the robot became seated upon the grassy floor with a big thud, confused and reasonably delusional.

"I-I'm sorry…" He apologized lamely, abandoning his clunky armor to the side to rest.

Hogarth sighed and knocked on the Giant's paneled leg. As the robot lifted him up, a pair of insecure white eyes met him at the kneecap. "I'm sorry that you're sorry for something you shouldn't be sorry about, want to tell the Garth man what's up?"

"It's just that… it's going to take me a while to feel like myself again."

He nodded understandingly. "Well, when and if you're ready to talk, I'm right here."

The Giant gave an assured smile at that. "I know that you are." he said. Standing up the robot was given a clear vantage point over what was shown to be hill-covered farmland.

"Status report, Giant?" Hogarth asked as he slid down the octangular leg to the ground.

"There's a small building not far from here, we should be able to make it on foot."

"Let's get going then. I'm sure whoever is in charge around here can help us out."

On mutual ground, the two then started for the farmer proprietor's headquarters. To any regular passerby it would have looked strange to see a '50-foot-tall ironclad robot and a six-foot-two man walking casually side-by-side, but then again not a lot about them were all that normal. The Giant glanced down at Hogarth and squinted his shutters in concern when he felt something in his mouth; he worked around something before pulling it out.

There was a gentle tap on the young man's shoulder, and the coordinates module became in his possession again. "Oh," he smiled a little sheepishly up at the Giant. "Thanks pal."

They began walking again, though the Giant couldn't keep from looking down anxiously at his friend. He attempted to look forward and concentrate on their task at hand, but after recent events he couldn't help but to keep glancing over at Hogarth watchfully. When he felt that he could no longer hold it in, the Giant stopped in his tracks and turned sideways.

"Um, Hogarth…" He began to request a little nervously in his baritone voice.

"Yes, Giant?"

"Do you think you could maybe…?" Hogarth noticed him bending down with his hand out in a gesture to step up on it. "I mean," he tried not to appear nervous. "Just for now."

"Giant, it's just right up the way. We can walk to it."

"Oh, all right…" He stood back up and righted himself. "You're right, let's keep going."

They continued forward but the Giant couldn't help but to direct his anxious white eyed gaze down at his friend, he forced himself to look forward but against the Giant's better judgment a menagerie of worst case scenarios leaked into his mind: From him stepping on Hogarth by accident, to the ground swallowing him whole, to a meteor striking him.

Paranoid, he leaned down and lightly bumped Hogarth in between the shoulder blades to get his attention. When he turned to look, the Giant gave everything he had into making his white eyes sappily needy; Hogarth saw straight through his act and shook his head.

"That's not gonna work with me, Giant." He kept walking forward. "You're too… um, experienced to be putting on this little lost puppy dog routine. I mean, honestly," he kept marching forward in resistance. "Do you think by giving me those sad eyes I'm going-."

He was nudged again on the shoulder, when Hogarth turned around the Giant was a foot from his face with the saddest look he could muster. "Please," he requested pathetically.

Hogarth rolled his eyes. "All right." He consented and stepped on board. "But just- _ah!_"

The Giant rose with him gratefully and started forward again with renewed confidence, as they neared a network of rectangular buildings he almost unconsciously covered Hogarth up in his hands. There was a knock on his ironed palm and he let his arm fall to his side.

"Sorry."

He started walking again and projected a force field around him.

Hogarth knocked against it. "Giant," he breathed patiently from within the confines of the hand, trying not to look put-off. "Either carry me normally or set me down, your choice."

"Carry." The Giant answered quickly and sat him on his shoulder.

"Besides," Hogarth started to say and a knowingness entered his mind; causing him to let a slight mischievous smile cross his face. "The air is thinner up here." He was returned to the ground as was expected, but the Giant caught sight of his smug features momentarily.

"That isn't funny, Hogarth."

"I'm sorry," He apologized as he began wandering around what was a seemingly deserted plantation. "But a little iron elbow grease will serve you good. Heh, grease. Greece." The minute or so of searching turned up with no avail. "I guess they're all working the fields."

"The reserve canisters are back with the armor, Hogarth, and they're low."

He rubbed at his neck unsurely. "And this is where we get more?"

"According to what I've been told."

Hogarth pulled out his hand-held guide. "Maybe I missed a chapter…"

"Well, howdy!" A southern drawl of a voice accosted them. They turned to see an overall and straw hat-wearing large man with a straggly white beard approaching. "Y'all must be some of them past peoples we been seein' on the news." He stopped to gawk at the Giant.

_Talk about Heehaw McGraw. _"Howdy, sir." Hogarth said civilly, reaching out a hand.

"My good Granny May Ellen," He said with his mouth agape. "This droid is real… big."

"Yeah," Hogarth and the Giant shared an amused smile. "He gets that a lot. Now, can-."

"My, oh my!" The man continued to admire, undeterred. "I have never seen a droid with such an industrious feel to it like back in the early twenty-seconds. At first glance this big fellow may not look like much, but up close real complexity really lies in his simplicity."

"He's one of a kind." Hogarth agreed automatically, his arms folded.

The Giant glanced down at him without knowing what to say. "Well, I'm just…"

"Flatter yourself a little, Giant. This kind of reaction is better then the other way around."

"Well, well," He was given a broad, toothy smile. "A young fellar with the crop glow of bein' raised on a farm makin' himself out to be a city-slicker," Hogarth's smile waned a little. "And a droid with the modest mannerisms who acts like a true gentleman, _wow_…"

"Sir," The young man approached him firmly. "We just need to know how we can-."

"Get more air?" he gave a deep, guttural laugh. "Workin' of course. Normally by the time a droid reaches the beginnings' of self-awareness 'round here we deactivate'em, and with the gravity hittin' harder then ever there aint been much travelin' the last ten o' so years."

"So in other words you need a lot of help." The Giant stated.

"And whatever gets us enough oxygen to make it to our final destination," Hogarth was quick to insert. "You can count us in." he frowned. "Just don't ever call me a farm boy."

"It's a condition," A foreign-sounding, forty-something woman said as she passed them all towards a big barn. "He watches something or sees something and emulates it. Ever since them ancient Howdy-dowdy re-runs he truly believes he's a hillbilly farmer, it's just best to humor him and do your work as quickly as you can so that you can leave."

"And did you say something about deactivating sentient robots?" Hogarth questioned him.

"Aint none of your business."

"Mack!" The woman shrieked to silence. "You'll be all right, hon." She said reassuringly up to a somewhat uneasy-looking Giant. "He just means the rare occasions when they go against their programming and try to wreck havoc everywhere, try to destroy and things."

"Maybe its better you go." Mack muttered unwelcomingly.

"Maybe its better that we do." Hogarth narrowed his eyes and turned away, but found the Giant leaning down as low as he could bend in his face. "Let's go Giant," he said calmly.

The robot tapped his friend lightly on the head. "We need oxygen for you, Hogarth."

He stiffened in realization.

"I'll try handling this." The Giant told him and stood up dutifully. "Sir," he extended a finger down and gently hooked his shoulder into turning him around, explaining. "I'm very sorry if either of us has done or said anything to offend you." His other hand went to cup around Hogarth briefly. "But it's very important that you help us, we need to leave soon."

"Please." Hogarth added as humbly as he could muster. "We have zero chance out there."

The man glared between them both and stalked away with a gruff. "_No."_

In a last ditch effort he would use back in his Omega-underground days, Hogarth threw himself to the floor like he was having a panic attack. He knew it wasn't a very enjoyable display, but the perfected demonstration over the last six years had earned him a one day less detention out of three, an avoidance of taking a history test and even a non-tardy slip.

"Running…" Hogarth pretended to gag; his body made convincing convulsion. "Out of-."

The Giant quickly picked him up and he saw the wildly confused look in his eyes. "No," he said in terror. "Hogarth!" This made him stop immediately. "You're… you're okay?"

"I'm fine," He sighed with a little regret at his friend's reaction. "Just overreacting."

Hogarth received a back-hand against the cheek by the woman from before. "Of all the nerve!" she said blisteringly. "People die from air leaks worldwide, you little imposter!"

"Don't ever do that again." The Giant reprimanded him in a controlled voice, but his eyes sternly- set changed from white to a blue-ish tint. "_Please_, don't even pretend to do that."

Something inside Hogarth wilted. "I won't, I don't even know what I was thinking."

"I know what he was thinkin'," Mack came up grinning at them. "He was thinkin' he was wantin' to be put to work." He slapped Hogarth on the back. "Best theatrics I've seen in a long time. Congratulations, you both work for me today y'all can have oxygen's galore!"

"You know," Hogarth nudged the Giant slightly against the ankle. "Clark Kent grew up on a farm too." He tried to make it up to him by encouraging. "What'd you say to that?"

"We need to get to work." The Giant said simply. "And _not_ act like this is drama class."

"Hello," He urged him. "_Clark Kent_."

"Who?"

"Never mined." Hogarth sighed.

III.

"And their location is?" Someone asked Drick on the communicator as they flew over the vegetation-less ground in their droids. "We need to know exactly where those two are or we can't predict when they will arrive in Robocity. _If_," the voice growled. "They arrive."

"They will," Drock informed himsince his friend was incapacitated from the aroma of the salty sea. "Whether we have to capture them ourselves, they _will _enter your city."

To be continued…


	38. An airenous mission: Part 2 of 2

**A/N: **I'll concentrate on other characters later on. These guys are just too interesting not to be written about. I may be taking a break from fan fiction writing for a while, but I've got a few one-shots in the wings before I finish anything else. Also, _someone_ returns.

The rolling crops seemed to spread out endlessly as the unusually overfriendly farmer led Hogarth and the Giant out to an enormous land square that lay in rich, dark fertilized soil but without any signs of growth. Although he had his own droids to transmute in, he had insisted on riding on the Giant claiming he was the 'mos' interestin' thing since tractors'.

"All right," Hogarth gave a ragged sigh. "There's no one left to impress anymore, and we never were. You can drop the cowboy act." He received a befuddled stare from the man.

"I don't think he's acting." The Giant noted with a little concern.

"Darn tootin'," Mack laughed deeply before spitting off to the side, looping his thumbs in his suspenders. "Now, men," he pulled out one of many different hand-held devices that people used in the future, "as you can see, there's quite a number of options right here."

Eager to be done quickly, Hogarth took the device as they stood in the Giant's hands and gave the different holographic images a scan. "Whatever you believe will get your work done quicker; you can choose to transmute your droid into any number of these objects."

At the word _object, _Hogarth felt his defenses rising. The young man turned with a look of evident uneasy opposition up at the Giant. "It's all right Hogarth," he assured him, seeing the innate displeasure Hogarth had for anyone who called him that. "We need to do this."

But the gears were already turning in his head as he stared passed the two, analyzed all of the landscape and came to a conclusion. "If it were me, I wouldn't soil what's left of my dignity by transmuting into one of these things." He handed it to the Giant. "All yours."

"But-," Mack hastened to protest. "- it is always the _user _that chooses."

"Then be prepared to meet our free will, free choice philosophy." Hogarth smiled a little.

"Hogarth," The Giant said with some amusement. "We should probably do it his way."

"How long would it take otherwise?" He inquired Mack.

"Ten minutes." The man replied unpleasantly.

"Then as the user's _partner _I choose not to change him into a piece of farm equipment." Hogarth said smugly, taking the selector device and handing it back to Mack. "I choose us." He rolled up his sleeves and nodded at the Giant. "Like I said, metal elbow grease."

"Maybe we should have listened to him." The Giant said uncertainly as they stood in a cross-section of dirt paths that separated four different squares of enormous farmland, he saw that Hogarth looked a little taken back also but when he spoke it was with optimism.

"There's nothing to this, you have that big carton of grain seed? Groovy. OK, I have this large jug of water I'm hauling on my back. All we have to do is make small indentions in the earth, fill it with seed and water it. It might take us a while, but the longer time will be

Worth it." Hogarth frowned at the Giant's unconvinced look. "Giant," he leveled with his friend gently. "I know we've - you especially- have been through a lot lately. With all your weapons going berserk, the sandstorm, that… discovery. This will be good for you."

Reluctantly consenting, the two began the tedious job. They tried a few different methods which proved to be an awkward fingers-tripping-over-Hogarth's-feet experience before they worked it out to where the Giant would take a little grain on his finger, hold it out to where Hogarth could spray it, and then stick his iron digit in the soil. Hogarth would then slide a fresh coat of soil with his foot sole over it and they would start over again like that.

"Pretty good system we have here, huh?" He prompted as they were keeping up with the calmly paced work. The Giant nodded as his entire body was sprawled across the next to last section they were working on. They were nearing the end when a man around the age of twenty-four or five strolled up to where Hogarth was ankle deep in clumped up soil.

"You fellars workin' to make a quick thing of air?" He asked in that same hokey drawl.

"We're fine," Hogarth said patiently, ignoring the urge to roll his eyes.

"Well, my paw done promised you can have all the H2O you need _but _in exchange you and your droid gotta move the rest of our seed supply over to the other unfertilized field parts," The brown-haired, dark-complicated man said airily. "Dun mind, do ya Hoturf?"

"Don't you mean O2?" Hogarth said between grit teeth.

"That too, Hoe-girth." He grinned a little when he saw he had successfully struck a nerve.

"Actually," The young man crumpled a water-bloated mesh of seed in his hand, curving his fair-skinned arm back. "My name's-." He found his wrist caught between two fingers.

"Hogarth." The Giant said serenely. "And I'm the Iron Giant."

Oddly, the young man only nodded stiffly and turned on his heel. They watched as he went away in a huffy stalk. Hogarth turned to give the Giant a thankful look; what neither saw was that there was a discoloration to his skin as well as a little bit of red around his roots.

"You know," Hogarth mentioned casually as they walked over to the heaping seed piles. "This is going to sound strange, but that guy we just met sounds a little familiar to me."

"You're right," The Giant agreed as he loaded nearly one-forth of the large packages in one of his huge rectangular arms, "I've heard that voice," he said musingly, sweeping one-third in his other arm and talking, "Like I heard it from when we first arrived here."

"Back when that time-witch Kina was around."

"Actually, it sounded like he might be... hmm. Nah." The denial sounded a solid '_aw_'.

"Hey," Hogarth looked up a little covertly from where six packages were loaded up in his arms. "If you wanted to lighten your load and hand me down a couple, I wouldn't mind."

The Giant sent him an unsure look.

"What?" He flashed his friend a small smirk. "I can handle it. Just pass me down a few."

"All right…" Two more of the thirty-pound bags were delivered down to him, but it was quickly apparent that Hogarth was straining under the added weight. "Got it all, Hoturf?"

"_Funny_…And yes," he said with composure, standing up straight. "I've got it all."

They started walking again when the Giant froze and shifted the weight of the seeds over to his left arm; he then used his free metal hand to extend down to halt Hogarth before he could take another inch forward. "Wait," He cautioned. "You need to take a wider step."

"Um…" Hogarth noticed a thin trail of black dots with leaf bits going by. "They're ants."

"I know." The Giant said breathlessly, stooping. "It's a good thing we stopped in time."

"Well," He unloaded the sacks to the side and rubbed at his arms, fighting on how to tell the Giant that it wasn't a disaster zone if a few insects got maimed. "I'll admit that ants are important to have around, in fact, they can carry five times their own weight. But, Giant," The robot stood. "They're just _little_ ants, it's not like if you step on one it really makes-."

Hogarth now noticed his friend was towering over him at full height. "-a _big_ difference."

The Giant gave him a friendly knowing look.

"Hmm…" he rubbed at his slightly scruffy goatee. "Are you suggesting we have a height difference? All right, you win." They both took a break to watch the seed-sized workers.

"And look," The Giant observed as they lay side-by-side on the grass, pointing out their perfect formation. "See how they all work together, it can help get the job done quicker."

"And more efficiently." Hogarth also noted, and then frowned in remembrance at Inx's version of colossuses and underlings. "I see what you mean, Giant. I guess in this case it would make _me _the giant. Hey," he glanced sideways. "You were just kidding, right?"

"Hmm?"

"You know," He rose a hand up and landed it back down palm-flat on the ground.

When the Giant caught on to what he meant, he wryly thumbed Hogarth on the shoulder.

"_Well_," A forced-southern accent accosted them. "Looks like I'm gonna haff ta tell my paw you fellars are lyin' down on the job." He chuckled throatily. "Heh, heh. But first…"

The farmer's son positioned his foot over the ant trail, and was about to bring his boot down on the oblivious workers when he found himself suspended twenty feet in the air. No one took any special notice at the Giant transferred him to the far reaches of his iron heels in one pivot of his large arm. Hogarth stood up, brushed himself off and waved over at him.

"It's a new kind of conservation." He called out from between his hands. "Insect _un_repellent."

They both laughed a little before gathering up the seed supplies and continuing on to take them to the other squares of fertilized lands, however as Hogarth bent down to collect his portion he reconsidered the amount at which he could withstand to manage up in his arms.

"You know," He raised the two extra sacks of grain up to a surprised Giant, "Maybe it's just me, but I wouldn't want to pull any hamstrings carrying more than I can at a time."

"Right, just carry what you can manage.

...

Hogarth, the Giant and the estranged farmer stood on the outside of a type of structure consisting of girders. The interior was reinforced with walling and only the bland grey metal rims on the outside were left to behold. A bit concernedly, the Giant looked over his own skin to which Hogarth gave him a small nudge on the ankle before explaining:

"Trust me, Giant. I'd rather have drab grey then a gaudy paint job any day."

Time seemed to become lost to them, as well as their credulity, as Mack showed the pair their last task for that day. "You men have done a darn good job today." Hogarth resisted the urge to roll his eyes on what he concluded was an act. "In fact, if you paint my entire additional architecture here by sun down I'll even throws you in some dinner for eatin'."

"Wait a minute, did you say...?"

The man grinned, evidently enjoying something. "I can tell that deep down under all that smooth suit and talk yer enjoyin' a little hard work." He scratched at his beard. "You two see them brushes? Deys're called paint brooms. Both ya paint the building outside here."

"All of it?" Hogarth said incredulously. The unfinished structure stood at least '60 feet.

"All of it." The Giant said determinedly. He nodded to Mack, scooped up the tools (they were vacuum-looking objects made of solid clear plastic, filled up with brown glue paint and dipped with a fine-tipped brush before revolving up to the top by a tubular network contraption inside) and winked at Hogarth. "Don't worry; we'll fix that height problem."

That's when he remembered first meeting little Tress. _"What'd you say we fix that height problem?" _He grinned a little and stepped up on the Giant's hand, moving the odd broom to one shoulder. "Mr. Mack," Hogarth nodded certainly. "You can count on the two of us sir."

Though they gave their word, the next few hours turned out harder than they expected; at least for one of them. Hogarth, wearing his helmet visor less, worked the inside to make sure the instant-drying paint was applied evenly. The Giant did elsewhere and assisted his friend every-so-often with transportation and using his eye beams to give Hogarth plenty of light for inspection. He, himself, found that he didn't fare so successfully with a brush.

Or broom.

_Maybe I should try three columns at once. _

The Giant positioned one in each hand, and then tried to work a third one into his mouth. But as he pressed down on the push handle, he noticed that the brush end was positioned rather inconveniently between both of his eyes at the base of his crest. Before the titanic automaton could react, a splattering of liquid umber squirted him right between the eyes.

"Mmm…" He moaned softly.

"Remember, Giant, don't bite off more than you can chew."

He noticed a jacket being extended out to him from within the outer wing of the gigantic girder structure, but waved away the offer as he yanked up a handful of grass in between his fingers, quickly swiped at the paint glue and returned the grass. To make it look more attractive, the Giant meticulously smoothed the blades around and made a fairly cleaned-up carpet. He tried brushing off a few more of the grass strands from his hands when he noticed how they stuck to them. Embarrassed, he turned to see Hogarth fighting laughter.

"I guess we'll have to call you the Grass Giant now!"

That little upset led the two of them to have a harmless paintbrush war; Hogarth managed to learn how to maneuver the insides without much help, with him having started it in his joking. "Good Lord," he muttered between breaths. "The big iron guy can't take a joke."

Hogarth sensed something around the corner, the inside-insides behind the walls actually had flooring in the girders, he steeled himself by pumping up on the paint broom, giving a smoothly reflexive turnaround and faced his foe with his weapon on his shoulder aimed as precisely as an archer with his crossbow would. But the space revealed only a recently painted girder wall. Hogarth peered over his shoulder and spun on his heel to face - not one single thing. He stood up straight, removed his head wear and scratched at his scalp.

"Huh, I was sure that -."

There was a tap on his shoulder and an empty paint broom cartridge was handed to him.

Forgetting momentarily that he was in a war zone, Hogarth absently re-filled with some of his own reserves before plugging it back up and handing it to the Giant's disembodied hand. A shocked look crossed his face and he whirled around to see the other closing in.

"Uh," He looked up to see the robot was hovering over the structure, waving down at him through the 'roofing' crevices with his robotic socket. "Any chance we can talk this out?"

The Giant's answer was to bring both paint brooms down and launch a blast of paint right at Hogarth; who grinned and jolted up at the girder overhead by directing his own broom- brush down. As he triumphantly clung to the girder's sidings, the force from the Giant's attacks predictably counteracted and blew back both hands when the paint wads collided.

Hogarth chuckled under his breath, but felt one choke up in his throat as the hands went scurrying up the girder walls. The roofing construction was carefully picked through and the young man was successfully plucked from the structure. Once he was then 'captured' by his metal 'nemesis', Hogarth tried aiming his at the Giant's chest but found it empty.

The Giant tried aiming his and had scanty results. He took spares from his shoulder space, provided one for Hogarth and they both started pelting one another in a painting frenzy of fairly disaster-less proportions. Once they were both successfully covered in paint, as was the rest of the structure, the two decided to call it a day. Hogarth's game face slipped fast.

"Giant."

"Don't worry," He chuckled a little. "Mack said the paint comes off easily."

"No… _that_." The Giant's jaw dropped when he saw that the whole top girder roof he had been working on was melting away, long threads of gooey brown dripping inside. When he looked down they both discovered that his rocket boots were the cause of the problem.

"Wait, if only heat is strong enough to remove it then that means… _Hogarth_!" He found that his friend was trapped in a thick block of hardened brown rock. "I'll… get you out."

After having gone through the humiliation of being chiseled out of stone-tough paint and having bravely endured their unsavory but necessary-for-transmutation meals consisting of liquid metal and tofu sandwiches, they both were ready to go. Mack, and his reluctant son, made sure that they had everything they would need to get to their next destination.

"Them sandwiches and liquid metal maker should last ya ta China." He began to go on about what city to go to, Beijing, and every other random piece of information Hogarth and the Giant had already gone over. "I 'aint goin' to fast for ya, am I Clark Kent lover?"

"You mentioned that name once…" The Giant said to an aggravated Hogarth who was still picking brown chips off his red-blue blazer. Mack then went on to explain seriously about the twenty-or-so oxygen canisters that he was providing, but Hogarth ignored him.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it." He grumbled, getting ready to do the tap-tap-change-technique.

They were all at the end of the air dome, and everyone (except any droids) was clad in coverall oxygen-sustaining uniforms that looked like hazmat attire. The Giant looked at him a bit sternly to put on his suit carefully, but Hogarth waved his worries aside as he took his time putting on the mask. Just as he was pulling it down, the giant valve portal gave a rotation back and a subtle change in the atmosphere became prevalent right then.

"God!" Hogarth gasped and clutched at his throat.

_"Hogarth…" _The Giant warned him, not satisfied with his act. "You promised not to…"

"Help that young man out," Mack said urgently, his accent gone. "Hurry!"

The robot was instantly transported back to two days earlier where he had seen what had become of his first family. All he could do was watch stunned, helpless, as a team of air technicians ran to assist the young man that was curled up in constrictions with a ghastly blue hue tightening his face. The Giant pressed on his heart, willing Hogarth to wellness.

"Giant…" He wheezed.

"Hold out, Hogarth," His friend coached him, the tone of his voice faltering. "_Please_."

Everyone watched with anticipation as they righted Hogarth up and began a rich flow of oxygen through out his suit, no one even attempted to hold their breath as the teenager's rapid gasping for earth's nector slowed and they didn't even think to walk away from him until it was self-evident that oxygen was circulating normally through out fragile-rendered lungs.

When the blurry fuzz around Hogarth's vision cleared, he began scanning around the area for the Giant when he saw him backed away. The look on his face was near devastation at what could have ended up a fatality. Concern for his friend's condition registered quicker then his own. Hogarth stood up, waved the people away and approached the shaken robot.

"Giant," He said gently. "It's all right… I'm fine."

The robot took a few steps back as if he were afraid to cause more harm to him. Without warning, a memory lodged itself in Hogarth's mind. He was young; a shamefaced robot was backing away from the scene of near-vaporization before running away all together.

"Nothings going to be solved by hightailing it out of here, Giant," Hogarth told him. "It's just like last time…it was an accident." he tried to appeal empathetically. "It isn't your-."

"Fault." The Giant finished for him pointedly, stubbornly. "Right." He agreed. "Just like it was never my fault with the deer, with you, the town or the whales." His eyes blued up. Hogarth knew if robots could cry; trails of tears would be spilling out from his sides now.

But the young man let him finish.

"If it is never my fault, why do I always take the worse of the beating?" His shout was a strange sound in his gravelly voice, anger, wonder and sorrow. He shook his head, deeply perturbed, and trekked off. Hogarth turned to the befuddled others and said, no-nonsense:

"I'm going to need one of those floating haulers," He nodded at them stationed in mid-air a ways away and then over to a big heap of damaged girders. "and a load or two, pronto."

A few hours later Hogarth found himself going further down the country side, the sunset was off to his right in the far west and the acres in now unsurprisingly unfertilized cubes spread out sectioned off on either sides of him. He found the woman who had knocked some much needed sense into him plowing one strip of land that had some green shoots.

They shared a look of understanding before Hogarth inquired. "Robot?" He jerked back his thumb in the direction of the girder structure he had re-painted before searching out for the Giant. "About ye big?" She gave a small smile and pointed further down the way.

"I applaud you for recognizing _and_ surviving the dangers." The smile left. "Many don't."

Hogarth made sure that the canisters, helmet and tubing were in place before approaching his friend. He left the visor up but paused with hesitation when he saw the Giant with his back to the craggy edge of the farmland terrain. A voice interrupted before he could talk.

"I always liked watching sunsets with them; it reminded me that there are those bigger."

He could have quipped, 'Not by much,' but instead Hogarth commented. "Julie and I loved watching sunrises." he walked over, boldly stating. "I plan on doing that again."

"Mmm." They were both on opposite spectrums again.

"I've given it a lot of thought, Giant." Hogarth said. The robot peered over at him with an anticipant look. "You've always had this _need _to protect; you've made it your purpose in life. And when you can't," he strained looking straight into his eyes. "You can fall apart."

The Giant's shutters drew inward a little. "You know what that's like?"

"That's why I tried to be dangerous-looking back in 1964." Hogarth admitted. "My sister."

He shrugged a shoulder back and the young man came over, hopped aboard it and they both watched the medium pink glowing mysteriously against the deep blue. Stars, which included the Orion constellation, showed in a faint, dazzling display across the twilight.

"You know," The Giant said quietly, sounding appeased. "You protect me too, Hogarth."

When he didn't go on to elaborate, the young man was left to wonder how. The Giant did not say anymore as they continued to watch, and a sense of wisdom Hogarth had not ever felt from the Giant entered his own self. They continued watching as all things went grey.

"That was easier then expected." Trant said in his normal voice, scrubbing at his fiery hair with cleaning vapors and smiling crookedly over to the Grecian man who frowned angrily as he removed his faux-beard strewn hat, fat suit and light-skinned make-up. "A fine work for the safe release of your son. Sadly, I do not believe we were as convincing as the ancient Beverly Hillbillies themselves were. You, especially, lost your tone."

"That boy could have _died_." He snarled under his breath before relief at the sight of his son nearly brought tears to his eyes. Trant rolled his own and flipped open his two-way.

"Yes, Grandfather Dimelo, Hogarth and 7000 bought it." He grinned. "Just as everyone bought my descent into insanity and my electric execution." Trant smiled as he revealed a teleporter in his ratty old jeans. "The poor pitiful family here will make sure they are both greeted properly in Robocity Japan. Oh, the two Alpha D.C. men with them? The two are effectively out of the picture. And… Kina. You told me about keeping updates with her."

"She has become disposable now, Kent Mansley's grandson. You wouldn't want to see her."

"But…" Shock struck his eyes. "You told me if I continued serving you-."

"Haven't you learned by now," A sneer entered the Russian man's voice. "Never to trust a Red." The connection bleeped off. And so there Trant was, there it finally registered to him, that even his own children were disposable to this man; Just as his Motorix had been.

Now he stood stranded there watching as the transmuted Giant and Hogarth left the dome.

To be continued…


	39. Mealtime madness

I.

"Beijing China…" Hogarth announced with an intake of fresh air, they had spent a whole night and day alternating flight time with the welcomed new sight of large city buildings covered over by twilight. "Population... Huh, I guess they don't take a census anymore."

"All right," The Giant said straightforwardly, reciprocated enough to resume the controls as he began his second shift. "We've eaten, we've exercised a little, now we just keep on flying through here and you can take over at sun-up." He seemed positive and motivated.

Hogarth wasn't buying it.

"Giant," The teenager leaned across his seat, flinging an arm over the back. "It's _China_. I've heard nothing but good things about it all the way here and so have you." He gave the Giant's unimpressed strobe image an elbow prod. "Let's take in the sights a little."

"Hogarth, we might have an extended time but we need to get to Rockwell soon." His tone grew firmer at his friend's seeming lack of concern. "We'll have to meet with the other volunteers in Japan and stop Kina from there, but the only way that's going to…"

He paused at Hogarth's languid look.

"IG, admit it, you're sick of playing by the rules. Now we have compromised on that one thing until you're ready, but this is one of those things you've gotta give into." A shrewd grin suddenly crossed his face. "China is big on consumerism; I'll bet they've culminated enough metal over the last century that would quadruple Dean's scrap over by a million."

"Hogarth, the last time you said that we met Trant."

For considerable reason that name lodged uncomfortably into Hogarth's mind, the Giant noticed a pained look crossing his face. A mechanical hand almost absently came out to lie upon Hogarth's knee, but he brushed it away and flashed him a recovering expression.

"I'm fine," he smiled a bit falsely. "C'mon, pal, let's go find some real food."

The Giant resumed his heavy-handed attitude. "Even if we did, it wouldn't do either of us any good. We've already eaten enough to travel and-." His stomach suddenly squelched.

Hogarth folded his arms. "Perhaps, but not enough to fill your iron tum-tum up to its peak performance. You need _real _food, Giant. You're fifty feet tall, for crying out loud! After all the crap we've been through, we need it more than ever. You wouldn't do it for me?"

"I would." He insisted calmly, a little offended. "But you're not even-."

Hogarth's stomach gurgled and he sent the Giant a self-satisfied look.

"So… a million scraps of metal, you say?"

"Oh yeah."

"Well," The Giant appeared apprehensive. "All right, just to get you fed anyway."

Hogarth rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Always thinking of others." He quipped.

Their flight through the expanse of skyscrapers brought on a very strange sight; an eerie glow emitted from tubular towers as the IG Double H was steered down lower into the jungle of fluorescent light that took on a life of its own. Hogarth leaned out of the Giant's open window slightly while squinting to see closer, when he saw a mechanical hand extend passed him in fascination he tried quickly to stop him as the unmistakable shape of a body was slouched inside the tubing. The finger touched a slit groove.

"Giant," Hogarth hastened to stop his friend, worried the person would fall out. "Don't-."

But though the curved doors swung apart, the body did not fall through. In fact, there was something more grueling to discover. The body belonged to a man who could have been coma-induced. His entire self was hooked to a circuit of hose that covered undesirable parts; taking in and out nutrients and all wastes products Hogarth deduced. A type of virtual reality helmet was secured over his head and face.

He wondered if the Giant understood and hoped he didn't receive the strong notion from it.

"Hogarth…" His baritone voice asked with a sickened sense of shock in it. "Does he…?"

The young man sighed quietly. "Yes, Giant. Every single bit of evidence points to it."

"He _lives _in there?" The idea of not living in the present reality was unbelievable to him.

"Sometimes people choose to live this way, IG." Hogarth explained matter-of-factly, gently steering the metal limb back into the open window as it slid out to touch the despondent individual. "It use to be fiction. People let technology into their lives so much that they…they chose not to live their lives."

The Giant sent him a concerned look. "Maybe technology living life isn't good either."

Hogarth smiled slightly. "And maybe no one life is perfect, Giant. Now let's go eat." He gave the panel a consoling pat. "I'm sorry, pal. But there's nothing we can do. Like you said, we've gotta keep going."

They continued through the city, the atmosphere they left behind pitying and thoughtful. But as the two entered the more bustling part of Beijing, things were beginning to look up. The oriental touch of many different kinds of shoins greeted their eyes, they were collaborated with very tastefully crafted verandas that featured eloquent pictures sewn on window film screen, paper cut-outs of dragons and brass Buddhist priests flanking all the different doorways. The two exchanged somewhat excited looks.

"So where do you want to try eating?"

Hogarth crossed his arms behind his head in silent victory at the Giant's easing up. "I dunno." He said a little idly before bolting up and gawking out at a sight to end all sights. "It's a fast food restaurant!"

For half a second he feared his friend would start lecturing him on calories and fat.

"All right," The Giant said coolly, shifting the handles down without restraint. "Let's go for it."

The two smoothed down to a line that was circling out of a surprisingly retro-looking McDonalds, if it had not been for the fact that Hogarth had been exposed to nutrition pellets and tofu sandwiches the last eight months he would have gladly tried authentic Chinese cuisine. However, he did find a menu of delectable sushi-size hamburger, pizza and hotdog specials. The Giant gave him an inquisitive look.

"What will we trade for it?" He asked.

Hogarth flashed an assuring smile. "These little babies." He said as he flicked up a dark blue token." He had a bag of them down by his thigh.

"Archer?"

"His sir awesome Archie-ness indeed."

More air crafts fell in line behind the pair and Hogarth noticed them with only a fleeting glance. They waited for a few minutes until a blaring _honk! _demanded their attention. The Giant shuttered his eyes uneasily at the disruption and Hogarth stuck his head out to send whoever it was a questioning stare.

"Be careful…"

"Sir," Hogarth started to call out to the person. "Do you mind? We're waiting to get to the front to-."

The Giant and Hogarth heard him curse in Chinese-accented Omnish before something slammed right into the back of them, jostling Hogarth almost out the window before a mechanical hand caught hold.

"They rear-ended us!" He declared incredulously. "They rear-ended us…" The stunned teenager then restated in realization after that. "Giant, are you all right? They didn't hurt you or anything, did they?"

His response came stiffly through ground iron teeth. "It didn't feel good…"

Self-righteousness suddenly struck Hogarth as he flung his upper body out the window.

"Oh, Hogarth, _no_…" The Giant moaned.

"Hey, pal!" He shouted indignantly. "You could have hurt my friend here!" The Chinese man's scowling face loosened in its natural wrinkles. "You _understand_ me?" Hogarth spoke somewhat mockingly slow.

"You call your droid your _friend?_" The man asked, bewildered but intrigued.

"_Yes_," Hogarth thumped the outside of the IG Double H with a sturdy, proud whack. "My friend."

"Than you must be Garth Hughes, the past kid who proclaimed himself on world-wide news."

"You're a fan of mine then?" He asked, a little flattered.

"No, just the Iron Giants."

The young man came back in. "Giant, do most people put you in the limelight nowadays?"

"I wonder how they know you so well." He said, dodging.

Hogarth felt his face fall in remembrance; he _had _made a brief, friend-motivated appearance before they left Iceland. He felt himself in a state of bliss as the eager Chinese people gathered around the two. At ease with the mostly positive recognition, Hogarth leaned back nonchalantly in his pilot's chair.

"Well, what'd you know? You have a fan base Giant. I wouldn't be surprised in the bigger cities we'll pass through if they'll make a Beatles turn out." He noticed the Giant's insecure look. "What's up? A little encouraging publicity would be good for a couple of future monger moguls like us…"

"I'd just like for them to leave." The robot admitted, embarrassed. "This is no better than the other type of attention." His image dimmed as he fought the urge to recede into the insides of his systems.

Hogarth nodded at that and climbed up on the chair to look out at them through the automatic sun roof he had installed through alchemist mind invention. "Look, everyone," he informed them. "Thanks for the attention, but my friend here would just as soon not be cr-_ow_-ded!"

The 'fans' rocked the entirety of the craft, jostling them both. Hogarth gave the Giant a questioning look, but he only nodded with miserable consent at this. Outside the noise was getting louder as people were clamoring around. When they tried to sink under the crowds to slip away, they found a floor of transmuted droids. When they tried to rise to the top, a ceiling of people blocked them. Hogarth clutched at his chair back fumingly.

"How do you get use to this?"

The Giant gave a shrugging gesture. "You don't. But they'll leave eventually."

"Well," His friend grinned sideways at him. "I have a better idea," he leaned down and whispered a plan into the Giant's strobe sensory receptors. "And between the two of us-."

"No!" He automatically refused. "Hogarth, that's ridiculous."

"Do you have another way of getting out of this?"

"Wait it out…" The Giant said stubbornly.

"Giant, in case you haven't noticed, you come off as intimidating. We give them a little scare, get our food and get out of here." Hogarth smiled winningly. "I know we aren't qualified actors, but I know that between Superman and Batman we can pull this off."

"No." He said with finality. "I finally have a better reputation, doing this would ruin it."

"Well, back in Rockwell…" Hogarth shook his head. "Never mind. Any ideas?"

"I'll bet they're thinking of leaving already," The Giant offered, switching out whirring surround-sound speakers inside. "Just listen; they're probably getting tired of waiting."

"How much you think we sell for the Giant's disembodied arm?"

"Forget arm! He going to stop clones in accient America. We fetch top trade for head!"

Hogarth and the Giant shared a grimacing look.

"Well, Giant," Hogarth held out an awaiting hand palm-up. "It's your call." He frowned grimly, sinking down into his bottom and back cushion. "Or it's the Robo-black market."

"Once and that's it."

Outside the craft, any form of orderly line was gone, everyone petered back as a large orb of blue span out from where their potential trade-ins had been. They all gawked as a giant, confident-looking retro-styled robot was peering down at all of them as someone stood in the center of his palm. The pony-tailed, goateed red-blue outfit wearing young man made a casual turn on his heel to face the prepared amber-eyed droid donning identical colors.

"7000!" Hogarth said in an overly-masculine, deep voice. "I demand you obey me!"

"I think not…" The Giant paused to think of the names that had been suggested for him to use. "Puny…" his villainous voice gave way to uncertainty. "Useless, human?" It was evident he didn't like saying these words. Hogarth sent him a strained look to try harder.

"Now see _here_." He said robustly, striking an arm up into the air. "I am the one who gave you a second chance at life those three centuries ago, your bolted butt exists to serve _me_."

The Giant attempted to take some offense to that. "_What?" _He declared, reeling back. "I think it is you," he gave Hogarth a harmless poke in the chest. "That exists to serve me."

"Oh?"

"Yes!" The robot got caught up in the act. "And as my first sign of rebellion, I will…" He scratched at his head in thought before coming up fast just inches before Hogarth's face, wearing an exaggerated wicked look. "_Devour _you." he threw back his head and rose one clawed metal hand to the night sky, cackling an almost evil sounding, "Muwahahahaha!"

"How could you betray me, Iron Giant!" Hogarth went to his knees, fisting his hands up melodramatically. "I fed you, taught you everything you know." He got up, brushed off his pants and pointed up at him while saying in a 'hurt' voice. "I even changed your oil."

"Ah." The Giant nodded, sending him a knowing look. "But you used the cheap brand."

He proceeded to pick Hogarth up by the lapel collar at the back and open his enormous mouth. "Oh, _noo_!" he struck a dramatic pose. "Goodbye cruel world and its inhabitance!"

In one great swallow, Hogarth was engulfed. When the Giant turned to their unconvinced audience, he straightened up and placed his hands securely on his hips before giving a big gulp. He watched as terror fell across their faces and they backed away before taking off all together, despite the relief of having them leave the Giant felt conflict panging inside.

A wide-eyed food server stood watching him from the window as they met eyes, the two heard a knock on the lower mandible before the Giant gave him an assuring, iron-toothed smile that showed Hogarth lying unscathed across his lower gum. He milked it by giving a little hand-sweeping salute and giving the young Chinese woman a rather casual order.

When she went to work ringing it up, Hogarth climbed out onto the Giant's hand. "Hah!

Did you see that! It went off without a cinch." He saw his friend's faraway expression.

"Mmm…"

"You were one heck of an actor, Giant."

The robot looked at him curiously. "You really think so?"

"I _saw _so!" Hogarth encouraged him. "Hey, I know you've fought for the things you have now. I'm not discrediting that. But did you check us out? We really _nailed _it as partners."

"We did do a pretty good job." The Giant agreed.

When the person returned with their food, Hogarth was effortlessly flicking the deep blue circle tab up in the air. He was about to flip it toward the woman when the Giant held him up closer to the front window, making it clear that he was not prepared to get cocky now.

"Here," Hogarth took the hint and held the chip out to her, saying modestly. "I - uh, we apologize for that little, err, display." He placed it in her hand. "We just wanted to order."

They exchanged concerned looks as the food appeared on a metallic-looking countertop, the Giant took it and handed it to Hogarth. He watched as the woman was falling back in a state of shock and quickly caught her. She gave a little whimper and flailed her tan arms everywhere to get away from his touch. The woman pushed on a button and the windows shuttered closed. Hogarth shook his head and lounged up against the bent in iron fingers.

"Some people just can't appreciate good talent when they see it."

The Giant glared at him, but with some amusement.

He thumped his head and heart before holding up a blue sphere.

"Do we make a good team, or do we make a good team?"

"Mmm-hmm." The Giant agreed surely and thumped against Hogarth's fist with a curled finger. Secured and ready to seek out some metal food, the two started to further explore.

"You know," Hogarth suggested slyly. "I thought we call this our Atomo routine."

"And _you_ know I only agreed to do this once."

"Lord, I've always wondered what we could accomplish together."

"We'll find out." The Giant said a little ominously.

Hogarth knew that he was just beginning to really feel the adventure as he was, but he felt something strike him inside questioningly. The young man recalled the words that he had prodded the Giant to use, 'puny' and 'useless'. And that same doubt, the most dreaded of feelings, sprang up inside of him. When it really came right down to it, would Batman be able to get up with Superman? Would Hogarth ever feel anything aside from inferiority?

He felt that this had just been a big mistake on his part.

"Hogarth," The Giant asked him interestedly, as always, "What are you thinking about?"

When he turned from looking out the window he tried to mask his face with a large grin.

"Just the hordes of metal we're going to find. Let's go."

The Giant nodded at that, but still held a small sense of suspicion.

To be continued…


	40. In and out of the rough

**- A/N: Prologue -**

What if you had the chance to speak with the second person who saved not only you, but everything and everyone you ever knew? Not just that, but this person was responsible for the first friendships you ever made. The person who was your first and in many ways your best friend, the person who had given his life for you; a Christ-like figure, a being from another world, a sign of damnation to some and salvation straight from the heavens themselves to others. But what about_ you_, the person watching all of this unfolding now?

You didn't plan for him to leave; you didn't know his ultimate sacrifice would bring forth a series of direct and indirect good fortunate for you. And worst of all, time passes where you think you'll never get to tell him. But, suddenly, what if you have the chance? Would you have the courage to face the person, or being, whose life is so intertwined with your own that you can transform at a touch? Who changed your perspective into multi-facets?

Whose inner star shines like a bright diamond, only seen by those who hold fast to faith.

And really, how do _you_ compare to a friend who embodies all you know and believe in?

I.

Hogarth could see large dark objects passing below, and wondering how this discovery would turn out, he could not help letting that fear of what might be awaiting them into his mind. This was especially true after their last one. A deep trench of doubt was unnerving the seventeen-year-old as he piloted the Giant through the thick night shrouded outskirts of China: Most didn't see any problems with dumping wastes outside of the city's radius.

"You've been quiet ever since we left." The Giant observed.

Hogarth peered down at him, frowning a little. "A guy can't think to himself."

"Well, yes," He cocked his head as he reasoned. "But we've flown shift after shift these last few days without much talking. I thought we could just… talk. You seem to have a lot on your mind, Hogarth." The young man looked placed on the spot and gazed outside.

"That's just it. I don't want to talk about what's on my mind." He explained.

But Hogarth noticed the Giant's concerned look.

"You worry too much, pal. We'll have plenty of time to talk later. Besides," he gestured out towards a worthy sight. "I promised you there had to be a sea of metal somewhere…"

"Hogarth," The Giant shook his head in amusement. "Stop changing the subject."

"Giant," He shot back with a grin. "Stop trying to break our deal and take a look outside."

In a swirl of revolving blue light, the robot reverted back to his original form. At first he thought that this was just an illusion created by his mind, but there was part of him set in motion for eating. The sight below them beheld a vast, almost mountainous viewpoint of towering metal objects, or, to a sufficiently food deprived robot, a limitless chow supply.

"Hogarth…?" The Giant inquired dazedly. Strobes of light sticks evenly spaced all over.

"This, my friend…" He stuck two oxygen cords up his nose; they were attached to a very small air canister on his right hip. "Is a landfill. A longtime enemy to all natural things."

"Uh-huh…" The idea of a major pig-out buffet being a hazard to the world didn't register.

They floated down into the long streams of rusted over and random metal piles; some of the junk was hard to make out among the endless rubble. Hogarth noticed that there were some cars that had to have been manufactured in the late nineteen hundreds into the early two-thousands. In addition there were all these strange boxes encrypted Wii or Nintendo.

He could only imagine what Chinese wartime evils this 'Nintendo' had been intended for.

"Wow, I've heard of hog heaven." he said in light amazement as the awed Giant sat him on a stuffing-leaked sofa. "But for you this must be robot-." Awkward pause. "Heaven."

The Giant was gone before he could look up again.

Hogarth shook his head and placed his food container down on the ground, a humming on his bottom made him dig around in his pants and pull out his handheld transmissions receiver. To Archer and his scientist's underappreciated credit, Hogarth was provided a number of three separate devices; a communicator, GPS and guides to different places.

"Greetings," The man's unfailing bearded smile showed onto the screen. "Is all well?"

"In truth, sir, there's a lot about the future we haven't been too thrilled about."

Archer laughed with unusual bitterness. "It's a raw shame indeed, Hogarth. Of course you volunteered for this." He pointed out, emphasizing the message. "And the Giant?"

Hogarth directed the device towards the sounds of munching. "See for yourself." They saw the robot was rocket boot-jetting his way from one junk pile to the next, gorging his fill down indiscriminatingly. "I haven't seen him this excited since he did a cannon ball."

The Giant turned their way in interest at this before going back to cramming down metal.

"Hey, Hon." A familiar voice said.

Hogarth turned to see Taylor with her blonde hair swept up in a loose bun. "Oh…" he had spent so much time getting to know his friend again he hadn't thought of her much. "Hi."

"I see a little beard is coming back." She smiled as his exposed ears burned at their lobes.

"Packing your bags?" He inquired, leaning back with his left hand behind his head.

"Well, actually…" A yellow eye suddenly pushed its way into the frame.

"Hi." A voice squeaked.

"Pygmy." Taylor complained gently.

"Pygmy!" Hogarth exclaimed with a gladdened smile. "Oh God!"

"Bye now."

"How-?" He couldn't keep the smile off of his face as Taylor came back on. "Is-?"

"She's fine, all thirty-five feet and three-hundred metric tons of her." She smiled back.

Hogarth caught on to something amiss. "We're going to make this work somehow."

"I know, it's just…" A small twinkle entered her eyes as the Giant appeared from behind Hogarth, chomping on a long rod of metal like celery and raising two of his fingers at her.

"Keeping our reformed criminal out of trouble?"

"I miss you too." He said as they shared a knowing look. Taylor noticed the sour one on her boyfriend's face and gestured behind him, Hogarth turned with a slight glare up at the ironclad robot. He cocked his head naively and flexed his fingers. "Did I do something?"

"The bunny ears, Giant, really?"

He brought his shutters inward, confused. "No, a peace sign."

Taylor giggled, but said to the Giant in reminding. "Don't forget to talk to him sometime."

Hogarth shook his head, trying to appear uncaring of their 'secret codes'.

The Giant gave her a small salute with his right hand and, in earlier inspiration, he began rummaging through a neat collection of items he had picked up. In a pleasant mood, the Giant began to place a random assortment of patchy and cotton-creased pillows around Hogarth like adding toppings to a dessert. _Great, I get to be crème de la Hughes. _But as he went on it was apparent the Giant was planning on doing something more interesting.

"What's he doing?" Taylor asked as he had a large van-looking vehicle in hand.

"I dunno, I'll ask him." Hogarth sent a cool look his way. "Care to answer Miss Evans?"

"You'll see." The Giant said in an upbeat voice, spreading out the crumpled metal.

He turned back to her displeased expression. "There you have it."

"Just make sure to follow Archer's directions exactly," She told them, concerned the two were spending more time goofing around then being serious. Taylor's deep blonde brows drew in as the Giant shoved the unfurled car into the ground like a canopy over Hogarth.

"All right?" A pair of white eyes peered down under the sheet, handing his helmet to him.

"Happenin'." Hogarth assured him, his interest rising. "What is this, a bomb shelter?" He bit his tongue down hard; they had been at odds about discussing that complicated subject.

The robot wriggled his fingers over at a clueless Taylor, and they watched the otherwise intimidating sight of a pair of large legs stepping over them. Hogarth leaned back casually in observation as the Giant shoveled down large portions of metal into his mouth in order to clear a path through the garbage veins, gradually extending the view a few hundred yards.

They watched as he swiveled on his heel, lowered his crest-ridged forehead and sprinted towards them in a headlong dash. Hogarth and Taylor exchanged curious looks as he was galloping back in a series of thunderous steps, trusting of course but a little mystified also.

"Yaaa-." He hollered loudly in his deep-pitched voice, bounding up into the air over the covered area in one enormous attempt. "-AH!" There was a quiet _whish _at the overpass.

Taylor looked at a now contemplatively grinning Hogarth.

"What is he…?"

"One word, babe, _Bonzai_." He blew her a quick kiss and felt the pressure of the junk rush pass the metal cover, clicking the communicator off. "Gnarly." Hogarth gripped the rests.

The Giant stood up and brushed himself off, fingering a few shards of curled metal scraps out of his hip sides. He then looked back over to see that the car cover was still perfectly in tact. If there was one thing the metal man was confident about anymore it was that he was able to secure a sturdy metal fortress: A specialty crafted with penguins in blizzards.

"Hogarth?" He came up to inspect his handiwork and check on his friend, but upon him uncurling the implanted car the Giant found that he was gone. Looking around frantically, he saw no traces of him to which the Giant immediately reacted. "Where did you get to?"

"Hey, pal, looking for something?"

"Not now, Hogarth, I'm trying to find you." The Giant looked at him and said critically, but then gave a double take as he was leaning cross-legged on a wind shield upon a hood.

His humor fell a little at the robot's genuine concern. "You know, I don't mind getting in a little past-time catch-up," he climbed on his hand. "But let's not be kids about it, OK?"

"As long as you promise not to surprise me like that again." The Giant agreed, rising up.

"I saw that look in your eyes, Iron Giant." Hogarth leered at him shrewdly. "You're good at detecting schemes but not so much at pulling one off. So, what did you plan to do pal?"

"Plan to do?" He repeated.

"Never mined, let's go find somewhere to settle down and eat."

The Giant unabatedly gestured out to a wide space he had created from the jump.

Hogarth chuckled at his friend's unknowing craft. "Wow, for a straightforward guy, you can really think big when you want to." He said, impressed at the avant-garde ingenuity.

"Hogarth," The Giant patted himself on the chest, smiling a little. "I _am_ big."

"And sometimes… not so much."

They continued on. After a few hours the twosome settled down for the night, apparently all lights went out after midnight so Hogarth and the Giant contented themselves with a ribbon of silver stars and of course a little aided light from the iron man's large lantern-like pupils. The smaller of the two was trying his luck with a pair of wooden chop sticks.

"It's all in the fingering." Hogarth said as he tried 'artfully' to maneuver his oak-crafted implements to pick up a miniature hotdog. The Giant watched out of sincere curiosity, in the older days he would have believed in everything but experience made a robot keener.

"Are you sure you can do this…?"

"Of course, now watch," his ring finger kept slipping. "Just… a little more centered."

"Hogarth." The Giant reasoned, somewhat put off.

"All right, big guy," He grabbed up a handful and stuffed it into his mouth. "_You_ try it."

Gladly, the robot took the aged car hood he had used earlier, grabbed up a handful of tiny bottle caps and sprayed them around the center. He turned his svelte-waisted body around and finished off his project with two old lighting posts. Hogarth watched as the Giant let his shutters curve in and head tilt in concentration; like a skilled surgeon. He managed a collection of the old coke classic tops between the rectangular metal rods in mere seconds.

A little crestfallen, Hogarth admitted defeat. "I'm all-American, what can I say?"

"I'm a fast learner." The Giant reminded him. "Any creativity I picked up was from you."

"Anything I got was from Dean." Hogarth laughed and went to lie on his back, becoming dreamy. "Giant, I know we agreed not to talk about it, but there's so much we could do if you came back." He smiled up at the sky, remembering when that screw had alit at dawn.

"I suppose we could." The Giant said solemnly, though the _agreement_ wasn't very much on his mind. He truly believed that their friendship went beyond a truce-knitted formality.

When the robot looked back down Hogarth was still smiling, but this time he was sitting up and looking at him reassuringly. "If you're worried about what everyone will think of you, don't be. It wouldn't be like before," he said calmly. "No more hiding, army tanks."

"That's good to know, I haven't given it much thought lately. They'd… want me back?"

"You're joking, right?" Hogarth took the idea absurdly. "They would welcome you back with open arms! We'll do whatever it takes, even petition for a restricted gun policy." He winked at the Giant's intrigued look. "Hey, I'm only throwing it out there. It's your call."

The two let the idea more seriously settle into their minds before Hogarth pulled out a pad he had sketched on during the Giant's flight times, turning it in between his hands before a pair of large fingers moved down and clamped together in request to look at the paper.

Consenting, he watched as the automaton took a few sheets of metal and began sculpting around with the pieces. Hogarth became a little agape at the mouth once he had finished with a perfect replica of a hover cycle with the initials IG framed between two large H's.

"Far out." He said, highly impressed. "Giant, you - you've really outdone yourself."

"From Dean, to you, to me." The idea felt remotely on a grander scale.

"What else ya got?"

"What else can you draw?" The Giant eyed him competitively.

"Here." Hogarth pulled out a paper and handed it up to him. "Try this one. I never have actually _seen _an actual rocket ship, but they depicted these things pretty well in comics."

The Giant plucked it up eagerly and looked at it, but his readiness waned and he felt his more practical side give way to another idea. He met Hogarth's perplexed look, recalled that he had broken their deal and with slight regret went to work with crafting something out of memory. This memory was like a realistic dream that hid in the back of your mind when you were a small child, then capered into consciousness unexpectedly, sometimes a lot more traumatically. For the Giant, it had been a huge conscious leap into his humanity.

Hogarth's anticipant look fell from his face.

"That's not a rocket, is it Giant?" He asked blankly.

"No," The robot said passively, but prepared to pursue, "It's not, Hogarth."

To be continued…


	41. A time for talk

**A/N: **One can only hold his secrets inside himself for so long.

I.

Hogarth bit his bottom lip in thought, chewed it for a moment and then stood up while casually sweeping off his pants. The Giant eyed him in disbelief as he flexed his muscles and outstretched them with a deep yawn and a scratch beneath his arm.

"_Well_…" His words got caught in another intake of breath. "It's gettin' late. Good night, Giant," he bided as if his friend's request were nothing. "We need our rest."

The automaton's mouth went slightly agape before he narrowed his shutters around his eyes in determination; he stood up and shifted his weight so that he was leaning right in front of a blank-eyed Hogarth. The young man frowned and stretched again.

"Giant…" He said tiredly - obviously using it as an excuse. "It's late."

"We had an agreement, Hogarth, and you broke it. I'm not moving until we talk."

Surprisingly, he looked up with an interest flitting across his face and nodded in a slow motion at this. The Giant was elated at the chance to finally work this out and eagerly took a seat upon the ground surrounded by garbage mounds around the two of them. Hogarth cracked his fingers and cleared his throat as the Giant was waiting.

_All right, _He thought with anticipation. _We're finally getting somewhere._

"Thank you, Hogarth."

* * *

He took a single breath before saying: "It happened a long time ago, it was a very life – altering impact that affected a lot of people and now it's over with." The dazed Giant was given a friendly pat on the finger before Hogarth took off. "Night."

However, as the young man briskly went across a thin metal circular panel, the Giant spotted something of use. Improvising, he quickly took up a worn out recliner, waited until Hogarth was a little mid-way over the over-sized, overturned hubcap and used his finger tip to spin him around. Hogarth was surprised as they both were face-to-face: The Giant had placed the chair behind him as he lay upon his stomach.

Hogarth gave him an unamused look as the Giant nudged the well-worn article of furniture near his rear-end, and went back to lying with his hands crossed patiently.

"I shouldn't have broken the deal," He slipped over the armrest and hurried his pace towards the end of the disk, facing the Giant as he backed away. "I…" Hogarth's face muscles tensed in pain. "I can't talk about it, Giant. It's too hard to."

"Well," The robot rested a finger upon his shoulder, offering. "Talking _does _help, Hogarth." He said. "Taylor and I talked a lot and she actually suggested that you -."

"So it was _her _idea?" Hogarth jerked away and glared at him.

"Don't involve her into this." He was calm but firm. "She just encouraged me."

But Hogarth was already starting away as the Giant got up in a crouch. "Why did I think coming with you would bring us closer," he complained, passing by an almost fossil-looking limousine. "Oh sure, it _has_! But not to the point we… have this talk."

* * *

He stopped cold in his tracks. That was the one thing keeping them both from moving forward in their relationship; Hogarth closed his eyes and kept on walking in the direction he was going in. The feeling of elevation irked him and he hopped onto the roof of the limo, glancing up at the Giant with a wary look and turning to continue going the opposite way - Hogarth found out just how determined he was.

A metal hand went to block his path as he tried to walk down the hood. He curled his hands into fists and tried to go the other direction, but another hand was quick to corner him there. Swallowing a big lump of frustration, Hogarth turned to face him.

"You really want to talk about this?" He inquired, walking along the long roof.

"Yes."

"Well, I don't." Hogarth kicked open the skylight, gave a little salute and plopped right into the back of the limousine effortlessly. He saw the Giant's incredulous eye peering in at him as he lifted a leg up, and kicked the shaded window into it's' place.

_That robot!_ _Why can't he see I don't want to talk about this? _Against his will, tears seeped against Hogarth's eyes as he burrowed himself into the backseat, stifling the encroaching sorrow that clogged his throat. "Damn it." He swiped at his lower lash.

Hogarth sensed a strange motion, heard the faint squeak of what sounded like a well oiled metal gate opening and was startled into looking up as he found that only one quarter of the limo remained. The Giant was standing at full-height with his hand on his hip and furled shards of metal sticking out of his large mouth; he crunched all of the pieces up and swallowed them whole before he held out his left hand insistently.

"You want to talk that badly, huh?" Hogarth inquired coolly.

The robot nodded and motioned his fingers inward.

"You've always been there for me," he said gently. "Let me be here for you."

"Giant…"

"What if something happens? We need to talk about this in case, well, just in case."

Hogarth kept a steady eye contact with him for a moment, tugged the corners of his mouth down and conceded. The Giant hollowed out a place atop a pile of old rubble. He carefully placed his friend down in it and sat down to face him with his big arms between his legs, face calm and eyes non-pressuring. Hogarth took in a deep breath.

"I understand why you did what you did," He began. "And I-I do…"

His words came out in a halting breath. "I really do appreciate all that you did for us, Giant." Hogarth caught himself before he got emotional, glancing over. "But-."

"Hogarth." The Giant urged him. When he didn't look up, the robot swiped a pile of coke bottles up in his hand and flicked one in his direction. Hogarth heard the sound and caught it as it whizzed, he looked down at it and then up at the leaning in Giant.

"It's all right," He smiled in his eyes, the normally crucial and dutiful baritone voice was relaxed and comforting. "It's just you," he tapped Hogarth's chest, "and me. The lost robot with a _bump _on his head." He then thumped Hogarth's head. "Remember?"

The young man grinned happily. "Yeah, I remember."

"That's who you're talking to." A natural glow seemed to brim in his eyes. "Just me."

Hogarth visibly became at ease and started talking. He felt himself quiver as he went into a state of consistent but definitely pent-up ramblings, describing everything that he had really felt after his father had passed away, after he had been placed in a grade that had been too high for him, how he felt about would-be step-fathers. An hour or so had passed, and the night had deepened before Hogarth stopped speaking for a moment.

"That… must have been hard on you." The Giant said in understanding. "What about-."

"When you left," Hogarth said quickly, beating him to the punch. "I was… very proud of you and, in a way, I wanted to let you be free to make your choice… but, then there was part of me that didn't want to you leave." His eyes stung as he gestured with great expression. "But seeing what you _could_ do and knowing what I could never, ever do…

Or even would have had the courage to do if I could have been in your place, it made-."

"Hogarth." The Giant said concernedly, remembering the time-portal drama.

"_Explain robo-equality."_

But the young man held his head high as he tried saying. "It made me feel we weren't…"

The Giant's large eyes brimmed in blue. "Equal." He uttered.

Hogarth nodded not in acceptance to that statement but in acknowledgement that it was a time where he had felt undoubtedly helpless, and that he was ashamed for it. He stood up, brushed himself off and slid down the trash-clumped hills that environed the two of them.

* * *

The large iron man was left in a stunned state. So, that was it. That was **it**. Hogarth, he was truly surprised to realize, had lived all this time with believing that he wasn't good enough because he couldn't have been the one to stop the missile. The Giant was even more taken aback when he thought of the hurt his abrupt departure had caused Hogarth.

In a state of reconciliation, he hesitantly reached out to try and take his friend's arm as he left. His fingers trembled a bit but with strength the Giant managed to clamp them onto the limp limb. "Hogarth, wait," he tried to persuade him, "Just, just don't go."

"You left." His arm jerked away with the rather gruff reply.

The Giant narrowed his shutters and rose into a deliberate crouch. Hogarth turned to see him. "I did what I _had _to do." He said in justification. "If you had been me, Hogarth…"

"Which I am clearly not," His sarcasm faltered, eyes wide. "You left me and I died a little inside."

"If I hadn't left that day," The Giant reminded him, unregretful. "You would have died _completely_."

He went a little agape at the mouth as Hogarth still tried to leave and caught a shoulder.

"Do you remember when I couldn't meet your eyes?"

A pang of hurt entered his chest. "Will you look at me now?"

Hogarth turned in response, stone-faced. "It's because my father forced me to look at him before he left." He watched as the Giant withdrew his hand this time, and explained with more consideration. "The last thing he told me was to protect my mother and then when I couldn't, well," he swung his arms around and swallowed back tears. "I just wasn't you."

But as he started away - again - the Giant stood up to his full height.

"Hogarth." He said with finality as his friend departed; Hogarth turned partway as he said wholeheartedly. "The only reason I saved you…" his eyes shuttered endearingly, "the only reason I was _around _at all was because of you. Because of you," he breathed, "I am me."

* * *

_Because of you, I am me._

The beginning haze of dawn was on the horizon as Hogarth traveled through the musky grayness of morning, his eyes were heavy as he dragged his feet upon the ground and his stomach ached with hunger. He thought he would feel accomplished, but unfortunately an even more muddled emotion was pulsating through his body. What had the Giant meant?

It was like a few nights ago with the oxygen episode. Hogarth had heard him comment on how _he _protected him, and he could understand that. Guidance, friendship, it wasn't all that metaphorical. But Hogarth had to wonder how the Giant could compare his type of protection to the kind _he _could provide; not just brawn and size, but consideration too.

Hogarth didn't always think things through, he just acted. To be fully honest with himself, his ways of protection did ensure safety some of the time. As he thought this through, the exhausted teenager came to stop at a dinted appearing couch and fell across it with a thud.

There was a sort of calmness that fell over his turbulent mind, a sort of soft numbness in the wake of his opened wounds that allowed a weary-eyed Hogarth to gaze out across the radiant pink skyline. Half-consciously, he took out his notepad and a pen. As he went to work sketching down the idea rushing around in his mind, Hogarth realized that none of the tragedies brought on in his life were his fault. Not his father's, not Taylor's and, the weight Hogarth had always felt dropped, not Julianne's. Her condition wasn't his fault.

He didn't know how long it took him or when he fell asleep, but Hogarth felt something in him dissolve. For the first time in six years, he broke down and sobbed as he drew. All the tension in his body was released and drained as he gave into everything he had, relief poured through out him and a feeling of true restoration Hogarth hadn't felt since his very young sister had been born flowed. And, without an ounce of regret, he was able to thank his best friend for that. Hogarth was now able to fully accept that the past was behind him.

To be continued…


	42. Without a single doubt

**A/N: **This will be my last chapter for the time being. Not to worry, a final story arc is afoot! ;)

I.

* * *

The White House stood proudly at the centre of activity as people bustled around it, all they had to do was turn to the iconic building to be reminded of America's achievements if they felt their patriotic spirit wavering. This wasn't so, however, for one Kent Mansley as he slumped out of the open doors and down the big stairs straight from the oval office.

"And the president wants me to go to another hick town to re-deem myself, say that they finally found evidence of big-foot. That accursed cryptoid!" He muttered fumingly under his breath as he reached a battered vehicle. His fiery red hair appeared grayer at the roots as Kent jerked a key ring out of his trench coat, and tried to jam it into the key hole, agitated.

"Ahem." A voice accosted him from above. The bleary-eyed man turned to look up, any traces of exhaustion or frustration vanished as Kent took in a pair of metal legs casually standing beside his vehicle. "Mansley," Hogarth Hughes, teenaged and tousled, greeted.

The young man was leaning smugly against the dome-head side of the long-gone robot.

"I-I…" Kent stuttered in flabbergasting shock, stumbling away from the car. "I got rid-."

"You remember my friend the Iron Giant," Hogarth cut him off briskly, "Don't you?"

The sound of metal cracking metal could be heard.

* * *

.

Hogarth could feel the light of dawn peering down at him as he grinned broadly at what had been a requested dream for years, the chance to see Mansley's true reaction because of what had happened that third day. The grin so snug upon his visage began to slip off.

_"What happened to __Kent__ that day?"_

It had been close to an hour now after the general had tried dispersing the crowds.

A strange smell of smoke assaulted the child's nose; the aftermath was quiet and almost morbidly tolerant. There was only a hairline fracture of people who seemed to emit any sort of feelings of injustice. Hogarth felt himself stolid still, denial weighing him down.

Part of him, that now aggravating sense of bothersome curiosity, wanted to look. It was all too clear about what he imagined he would see as he sensed the troops behind them beginning to leave. Hogarth could already plainly see the smirk on Kent's face in mind.

Not daring to look the whole way, so that his mother and Dean wouldn't see, the young boy glimpsed over misty-eyed at the man. But what he saw was something he had not in all his short years of life imagined he would see. There was not a twisted smile of success on his face, but there was also no hint of regret or even surprise at how close the boy and his robot had been. There was no unsettling look of acceptance or a wild-eyed look of flight.

Instead, the man was finally meeting Hogarth's eyes in what _he _was surprised to see was consideration. It was as if Kent was finally looking upon the boy as if he were his equal.

"It looks like I had nothing to teach you," He said just as he was yanked harshly from the car and handcuffs were snapped across his wrists. "It meant something to you, didn't it?"

A rage suddenly consumed Hogarth and he tried to go after the man as Dean caught him.

_"You never taught me anything!" _The boy's yelling cut the heavy air. _"You aren't my dad!"_

* * *

Hogarth jolted awake, panting moderately and combing his hand back through his loose copper hair. As he shook his head the bangs fell back into place. With a large intake of breath, Hogarth flopped back across the old couch and felt his mind settle conclusively.

He could not have been the Giant. But he was also, thankfully, not Kent Mansley.

Stretching restfully, Hogarth picked up the pad of paper he had sketched and took a look at his work. It was a cartoon-ish Superman insignia with I and G wobbly placed together, there were wet speckles blotting everywhere around the design. He sighed at his behavior the previous night and flipped the sketch over to start anew with a real attempt this time.

Satisfied with the final product, a more Warner Brothers-inspired insignia with IG three-dimensionally placed and the signature _A Hogarth Hughes original_ placed at the bottom, the artist laid back to gather his thoughts. He instinctively wondered where the Giant was.

"After I went off like that, he probably left for Rockwell by himself. I wouldn't blame him."

Unbeknownst to Hogarth, a large metal finger was moving along the side of the couch out of view. Before he had time to react, the ratty worn chase that was elevated popped back down into the sofa's foot-prompt enabled recesses. Hogarth felt himself being angled just so and looked back over the now V-shape standing couch to see an affable-looking Giant.

A small smile tugged at his mouth. "Hey, what have you been up to?"

With slight sheepishness, the robot held out a boxed food carton to Hogarth just as he felt his stomach groan in hunger. He received it and sent the Giant a thankful look, who gave a nod in turn. They both took a moment to let the awkwardness subside before speaking.

"So… how'd you pay for it?"

The Giant felt around inside his shoulder crevice and produced a miniature figurine of 'his' own design. "I told everyone else who asked it was just one of its kind," he partially joked.

Hogarth chuckled slightly before rubbing his neck. "Listen, Giant, about last night ---."

But he stopped him by holding up a hand, surprisingly saying. "We both go." He tapped Hogarth's chest and than his. "No one stays." A smile lit his ivory eyes. "All following."

The young man nodded. "You were right," he said with approval. "Talking did help."

However, the Giant didn't take any gratification. "I'll try toning down the heroics."

Hogarth out right laughed at that. "That's like asking me not to get in over my head." He held up the piece of paper. "Here, look at this. Maybe it will help highlight your heroics."

He masked his amusement as the Giant picked it up and examined it over, peering down at the real design. But to Hogarth's surprise, the Giant turned his way with a touched look.

"All right, don't get all mushy on me." He held up the other paper. "Not yet, at least."

The robot's shutters arched inward. "What'd you mean?"

"I mean," Hogarth grinned. "Take a look at this one." He watched as the Giant took it up in his other fingers and looked each one over, before holding up the crudely drawn one to his eyes in frank admiration. "Giant, I was only kidding! The other one is the real one…"

He looked at Hogarth and winked before holding both sheets of paper together so the two overlapped. "Why don't you eat and get ready, this'll take some time before we take off."

"Sounds good to me, Giant," Hogarth agreed, absentmindedly using a pair of dark silver chopsticks to gobble down tiny waffle and pancake bits. "Where's the future bath thing?"

"I set it over by my armor." He answered as he started picking through metal pieces.

* * *

.

As the faint sounds of turning on and off came and went, the Giant felt his curiosity start to nag at him. He heard a deep, almost song-like sound coming over from where Hogarth was and without really realizing it he slowly crept over to the beginning of the trash ridge.

The sound of a door swinging open and a deep intake of air left him feeling unnerved and he went back to rummaging around the area, what the Giant had come to find out over the years was that it was usually best just to wait things out and not get too involved. His pale eyes surveyed the wide-range of selections there were, and he deftly picked out the parts.

But just as the automaton was beginning to assemble his hand-drawn gift, he noticed the fully discarded clothes lying just at the end of the trash heap edge. Grimacing at the idea of invading Hogarth's privacy, the Giant immediately went back to crafting out the sign.

It wasn't that he hadn't ever _wondered, _but it really was none of his business in knowing.

"I'd guess it's probably no different then what my lower half looks like." He commented.

At the sound of a lid opening up, the Giant found himself peering up in awful temptation.

II.

Hogarth wiped at the spread of bacteria absorbing vapors that were layered over his body, his interest piqued as the liquid-jelly dots only moved into a smear when rubbed onto the towel he had brought along. Walking over to a chipped porcelain toilet, he opened up the top and leaned in. But as Hogarth whistled God Bless America he perceived an onlooker.

Glancing over to the side and zipping up the extra pair of blue pants he had, Hogarth saw the Giant was picking through a row of scrap near the top of a garbage pile. As they met eyes, the robot casually waved at him before turning back to the mountains of scrap metal.

He nodded with a half-hearted smile and went back to business.

The Giant shuffled over sideways and seemed to peer over his shoulder now and again. Hogarth narrowed his eyes a little and bent down lower into the open toilet seat. Double doors to what could have been a cabinet opened up and a large white orb appeared from the other side, carefully rotating over to the right to take one quick, intrigue-induced look.

The young man huddled down even closer and shot a glance over his shoulder to see ---.

Nothing.

Frowning in disappointment, Hogarth turned back stubbornly and sighed with some relief as he heard the familiar sound of his bowels spewing. The arisen mid-morning sun dimmed a bit as a shadow moved along above Hogarth, eclipsing the entire yellow-lit floor in looming gray.

He counted down slowly in his head the moments before the crest-shaped form tip would be over him, and then whirled around with a triumphant grin. "Hah!" Hogarth exclaimed with his finger extended to an empty sky. The shadow was still there but nothing seemed to make it.

That's when he remembered; The Giant could cloak himself in an invisibility cover! Hogarth let his teeth grit together and nearly fell face forward as he tried to cover every last inch of what was usually inaccessible to others. What he didn't notice was someone moving sideways to the far right, the Giant held a car up to his face and was peering through the swinging doors.

Hogarth didn't look directly at him, but he moved around so that his back was to the Giant. He then peered over smugly at his robotic friend as he coolly plucked a bumper off the rusted vechile, and gave a small nod to Hogarth. The young man nodded back and ceased whizzing.

_See what happens when you try to one-up the Garth man._

With an air of accomplishment, Hogarth picked up the towel, sanitized his hands and strutted over to where he had spotted another toliet the previous night. He slipped his pants all the way down to his ankles without reserve and plopped down onto the open seat to finish up.

* * *

.

Feeling some guilt but never one to back out of starting something, the Giant decided to try doing something he had only done once before. He unscrewed his latern eye straight from its socket and situtated it securely between two of his fingers on his already disembodied hand. This was a technique the Giant had wanted to try for sometime, and he needed to test it out.

His sudden ground level perspective left the automaton a bit dizzy, but he managed to keep a good balance as the hand went clear and only a faint outline of it was visible as it crawled its way over gingerly to where Hogarth was at. He almost backed down, but the hand had a life of its own as it peered around to try and catch only a quick peek at what was happening.

Hogarth appeared oblivious to him as he was scanning an edge-torn, ink trailed newspaper with his pants gaping around the ends of his legs. The Giant moved a little closer, the edge of his eye almost had a good view just two feet from where the toliet was, and suddenly all things went dark. He blinked hard as a boxer-wearing Hogarth had his hand by the fingers.

"Try to pull a fast one on me, huh!?"

Embarrassed beyond belief, the Giant remained hidden under his air clear cover. He was just about to summon the hand back when Hogarth released his hold on it and started clutching at his sides like he was in pain. The Giant re-appeared immediately and stepped over to him.

"Hogarth!" He said critically, nudging his shoulder.

"Giant." All activity stopped as the young man stood up and brushed himself off. "It's all right to be curious," he told him calmly yet pointedly. "But it's better to ask then kill your eyesight."

The Giant rubbed at his neck. "I get that way sometimes..." he held Hogarth's clothes out.

"You can't really relate." He reasoned as he slipped them on, remembering when Kina and even Taylor had taken advantage of him. "When people do things to you... well, it makes you more conscious of yourself. I'm sure you and Taylor talked but knowing isn't understanding."

But the second Hogarth saw the Giant peer down at himself uncertainly, he intervened. "Hey, big metal guy," he said robustly; they met eyes. "God would have been proud to know Adam hadn't gone completely native for a frigging apple... what I mean is, be proud of your body. "

"If it's all right that I ask, why _can't _you show yours?"

Hogarth smiled understandingly. "It isn't that I can't," he stepped onto the Giant's hand and met his inquisitive eyes at the top. "to me, there's something wrong when you don't think well of your body. I mean, I _do_. But it's just not really polite to go around public in the nude."

"You said people wear clothes because they don't like their bodies..."

"No, I said people wear clothes because we're not animals."

But the Giant seemed turned onto this thought concept, his eyes rotated musingly. "Maybe... many people don't like their bodies." he turned to look at Hogarth. "You said last night you- "

"I said I _felt _that way, I didn't actually mean I was."

"Well," The Giant suddenly became optimistic. "It's a new day." he placed Hogarth down onto the ground and placed the wacky 'I' and the more pronounced 'G' sculpted insignia upon his red and blue suit before putting it on. "Let's make the best of it." He held out his hand again.

Hogarth smiled enthusiastically. "The best of it yet, pal. The best of it yet."

"And you're all right? No more self-doubts."

The young man folded his arms surely. "Not a one. I am who I am... Hogarth. I accept that."

They started out into the new day towards their second to final destination: Japan.

To be continued...


	43. The shamed and the shameless Part 1 of 2

**A/N:** I've decided on a first-person narrative for the rest of my chapters, I think it well help to get into the characters' heads a bit better and provide an interesting spin on the rest of the story.

* * *

I. - Taylor.

It had felt nice to re-experience the tropical air of Honolulu, the place we had escaped to after the destruction of Washington D.C.'s remains. But now as I was walking by myself back to the ends of the large auditorium to see _her_ once more, my mind began to slip into its worried depths again.

The droid operators and others would prefer I hadn't given the Giant's clone a gender, but then it was kind of hard when the thirty-five-foot robot actually sounded like a girl. As I passed the light gray walls on the outer wing, a shortcut to the end of the auditorium, I saw myself in the window opening out to the sandy shores. My bow lips parted in awe as I clutched at my swollen stomach.

Our time in Iceland had been going on nearly three weeks. The hair I had cut off just down to my shoulders was now at mid-back, and the yellow orb I had tied to my body partially out of a way to compensate to Hogarth was now a fully formed individual. I kept moving, trying to reason gently with myself that everything I was going through was normal although clearly not anything usual.

As the corridor opened up, the sight of many yellow-suited people running about and taking notes on the already confirmed harmless droid unceremoniously welcomed me. But as soon as they all saw me, their heads rotated and a look of apprehension shone in their eyes before they downcast.

I felt the deep-seeded guilt rise from my chest to my throat, but loftily tossed my dark blonde hair over one shoulder and started pass them like I was proud of my rapid pregnancy. It was no secret that while some were curious, most anyone who saw me had thought I had self-mutilated myself.

Tears slowly collected in my light brown eyes as I approached the clear-glass containment section where a large, loping creature was at. I had been told that she was only going to be kept here until it was proven that she wouldn't malfunction like the Motorix, but I knew it was really for testing.

Pygmy turned on her heel almost as if she'd sensed my presence, and her bright near-golden eyes that had been following the people outside beamed with an elated cast at seeing me a second time. After it had been discovered that she was a potential 'hazard' to my health, she had been taken as I slept in the final hours of her transformation. Relieved that she was all right, I gave her a smile.

The robot was shorter then the Giant but retained many of his features, her coloration had more of a blue-purple hint to it while her crest was pointed and arched backwards like the end of a thunder bolt. Pygmy stepped up to where I was and knelt down, pressing her hands to the separating glass.

Wistfully, I placed mine against it and sighed as my other one traveled to my stomach. There was this electric feeling I got with her nearby, gazing upon me with fascination and an eagerness that a child might have about meeting a long-lost parent. With a shuddering breath, I walked away as my hand slipped away. But as I looked over my shoulder I saw that her enthusiasm was in place.

Pygmy took a few steps after me, seemed to look a little interested that I was going and then went right back to inquisitively viewing her many spectators. Inx's words fell into my head; It is for the very best you do not get too attached. I've spoken with the Council; as soon as the Giant's clones are deactivated you will have to leave anyway. I felt a part of me wilt as I continued to leave her.

"Taylor," A kind voice said from behind and I turned to see Archer, blue-suit and all, "I know it has been extremely difficult for you. The operators have run some more tests," he eyed the nosy people around us, "And they believe your condition is a result of Pygmy's transmuting powers."

"You mean she has some kind of connection to my baby?" I looked down.

"It is more then that." His light green eyes grew serious behind his wrinkles, "Taylor, we believe your rapidly developing fetus is fast approaching delivery. Pygmy," he eyed the distracted robot. "has established a prenatal bond with your baby, due to the ideological cyborg intentions of Ki-."

My whole body went into shock and I met the man's eyes critically. "Let me in there to see her."

* * *

II. - The Giant.

The terrain was very rocky on the island Honshū, Hogarth had mentioned a disliking toward Japan because of something called Pearl Harbor, but as we moved toward the city called Robocity most of the area was dark and ridged reminding me of Iceland, and with no signs of life there wasn't much to dislike. Curiously, I turned toward my friend.

"Where did Archer say we would meet the people able to stop my clones?"

He didn't react.

"Hogarth." I nudged his shoulder slightly upon my shoulder, being delicate as always.

"Mmm." He groaned and sleepily batted at my finger.

"Careful," I laughed a bit, scooting his draping limps back to the center. "Don't fall off."

Hogarth rose up with a glare. "We wouldn't be walking if _someone _hadn't lost that metal liquidizing machine." He didn't seem to believe me as I innocently argued misplacing it.

"And besides," I took a handful of metal and plopped it in my mouth as we walked along like popcorn, an enormous stack towering in my arm. "That leaves more room for food."

He looked at me from upside-down, blue eyes narrowed. "Suurreee…"

Determined to defend myself, I pushed up on his feet to move him closer under my also narrowed eyes. "Yes, I _sure _did not lose it on purpose." I told him, which was the truth.

"We still have a walk ahead of us." Hogarth mentioned with a chuckle, lying back down.

I tried not to let on to my worries. "So," my mouth became full, "dream about anything?"

He sighed, as if he were considering something seriously. "Well, seeing Taylor again got me thinking about fatherhood. The anniversary of my dad's passing was two weeks ago."

The idea we had spent so much time together made me pause. "I'll be there if I can."

Hogarth looked over at me with a smile. "I know." He grew knowing in that moment. "I'm not the only one who's going to be a dad, remember? Y'know, with Pygmy all the way here."

"No!" I was suddenly thrown into shock. "I didn't know!"

The look I received from Hogarth was a grimace. "Whoops."

* * *

III. - Trisha.

From the crowds of spectators, 'reformed' or otherwise as I didn't much notice, I saw what my daughter had been concealing from me since the day we'd had our private conversation. I should have found my dear Taylor's state grotesque, but somehow the year of aliens, time travel and commie takeovers had left me numbed to surprise now.

Even as I felt the surmounting disapproval of her choice to interact with the creature that had accelerated her natural cycle, I was still somehow able to keep my head as I watched on. Taylor had asked me up front to give her my blessing for extending our divided family, and with the mostly positive influence she had received I'd granted it.

I hadn't seen Robert for quite some time, nor heard from James Rhinestien but I had my main focus with my seventeen-year-old daughter to concentrate on. Any other distractions would have been too debilitating. However, Daniel caught my eye now and again. But in that moment I found myself absently glancing around for the man.

"Everyone," The familiar voice of the D.C. scientist caught my attention. He had his hand on Taylor's shoulder as he ascended with her while blue-suited people assisted up to a seven foot railed podium set to move into the incased dome. "Space, please."

I pinched the bridge of my nose and smoothed the wrinkles of my own hazmat-like uniform; there was so much to this world I didn't understand. An Asian man, Inx as I briefly recounted, met her up and escorted her down a narrow walk to a circular open.

My natural instincts began to perk as a low whirring noise rose and the diving board-narrow stage started out into the solid bubble. Taylor seemed to be gripping the rails with a little anxiety, and I was about to hurl a protest when the moving stage halted.

A hand came to rest on my shoulder. _This is it, _A voice spoke to me through my line in the thought transmitter system. Daniel's thinking was as easy as if he were giving me a lecture. _This is where we expose the droid operators for nearly killing Hogarth_.

I plucked the wireless ear pieces from my head and planted them firmly in his palm.

"I'm done, Barnes." I told him statically. "I'm through with this whole thing, Taylor has free reign to live this wild robot life. The day mom's worries stood for nothing."

"Your worries are valid, Trisha. In fact, they may just uncover a darker truth."

We watched on as Taylor attempted to make contact with the droid named Pygmy.

IV. - Hogarth.

I knew I was in trouble when the Giant scooped me off of his shoulder and glared at me, he didn't get peeved off too often so I tried to wipe the relaxed look off my face. Sometimes that was the problem with having a friend '50 feet tall; running was futile.

"Why didn't you tell me?" His tone wasn't accusatory, but it did sound shortchanged.

"I kinda…" I rubbed the back of my neck nervously, "forgot to mention it."

The Giant gave me a look of disbelief.

"Look, I'm sorry pal. But I didn't really get around to it last night."

A hint of apology entered his eyes. "That's right." he admitted, then scratched at his head in thought and in that second I knew what was really going on. "But a-a father?"

"Tell me about it." I offered him a small grin. "But, hey, we have nine months before we'll have to take on two. We should just focus on crossing the bridge we have now."

Though the Giant seemed to have more on his mind, he nodded at me in agreement. I motioned for him to set me down and started toward the beginning of what appeared to be tall spires out in the distance. I felt his eyes on me and he stepped closer to the edge. Sometimes I didn't know what I was thinking, I knew I was finally beating my inferiority complex with my best friend but there was still that part of me who craved to strive for total independence. There was that rebel in me, who refused to take help.

"Hogarth." I cringed a little at the necessity in his voice, that little nagging habit that he had developed whenever I turned away from being practical. And if I rode on him, that was faster and therefore practical. "See this slope." I motioned to the smooth tract of charred-looking land before us. "I can get down it no sweat." He wasn't convinced.

"Why not just do it more quickly," The Giant offered his hand. "Or we'll transmute."

I flinched away at his perplexed look. "Giant…" I stumbled for an excuse that would not sound completely lame. "You're, well, _giant_." He brought his shutters in, tilting his head. "And like I said, this _is _Japan. So if I go riding in, they could mistake you-."

"For a weapon." The robot finished flatly.

"You know what I mean."

"No." He looked away offensively. "I don't."

"Giant," I coaxed him gently. "All I'm saying is that it would look better if we go in side-by-side. This is our last stop and we need to make a statement. I've tried to get information on this city." My eyes traveled onward. "There aren't that many details."

He stood up straighter and looked out with me. "Maybe… it would be better."

"I-."

"I know you didn't mean anything by it." The Giant met my gaze reassuringly.

A recovered smile crossed my mouth and we began out. I heard him hesitate, but with the plan already set in motion I started down the smooth decline with caution. To me it felt like the Giant was debating, but I heard him start down and looked back to see him sliding down on his columned chassis even when he could have just leapt down.

"What is this really about?" He insisted a little boldly, scraping his elbow down the slope and holding out his hand to talk. I sighed roughly and avoided stepping onto it.

"Half the time I ride on you, the other half I ride in you…" This was my vague excuse, but I felt bad for snubbing his offer. It didn't make my day to disappoint him like this.

But then, sometimes it was necessary to protect both of our dignities. The whole thing was complicated and I knew he didn't understand; it was one of only a few ways that I had of taking care of him. But the Giant gave a grunt of determination, and I noticed from the corner of my eye that he was testing the sliding ability of the slope I walked.

I also noticed his solid metal supply netted together was sliding down to a hot pool of water near a dark outcropping. He met my eyes with a daring smile, and I directed a similar one back; if the big metal guy was going to play games I'd play along as well.

V. - Taylor.

My dark blonde hair draped around my shoulders as the metal-framed stadium moved me out towards Pygmy who wandered randomly around the very center of the clear enclosure. I swallowed back a lump of nerves and peered over the edge.

In my mind I knew why I was doing this; I owed it to Hogarth and the Giant to help them prove that the clones could be treated equally. There were many eyes on us and I wished they would leave her be. It didn't take a wise or knowing pair of eyes to see that the robot wasn't a danger. Looking over to the crowds, I could see my mother was there. She had a blank look on her face as her eyes traveled down automatically to my enlarged stomach, and I was reminded of what I'd done then.

I had taken advantage of Hogarth to save his life, but in the mind-bending process had harmed my own life more. That was what Inx, my mother and everyone who cared about me had been trying to tell me. But even as I had taken responsibility for what I had done, I realized in that moment it had only been to protect myself.

It hadn't been just to make it up to everyone else; it had been for my own safety.

Tears materialized in my eyes as the podium stopped and I suddenly felt exposed, I felt fifty feet tall and subjected to the gawking curiosity of everyone in the room. _What have I done? _My gut reaction was to protest to get down but than I felt that if I did so I would not be paying for the atrocity of my actions, so I said no words.

Curiously, I peered over the edge and noticed that the robot wandering below had paused from her aimless venture. She gazed straight up at me and focused her big golden eyes into mine, blinked twice and raised her lower shutters at me; smiling.

The ache burning in my chest receded away, and I allowed my warm tears to fall.

"Hi, Pygmy." I cried with a weak choke in my voice.

She reached up as if to touch my face. "Taylor…?" her voice was soft with inquiry.

- The Giant.

To prove to Hogarth there was no shame in accepting my help, considering the fact that I was just 'somewhat' bigger then he was, I slid down to the bottom just inches from my feet and turned around to await his descent. Hogarth held my gaze and tried his best to stop as gravity was winning in his resistance to meet my hand at the base of the cliff. Trying a different approach, I folded my arms and leaned forward instead.

He got down in a crouch as he was only a few feet from making contact with my big armor-reinforced arms. I watched with calm anticipation, not pushing the inevitable discussion on him. But what got me deep down was why he still wouldn't open up.

"Giant." Hogarth said flatly.

"Just waiting for you…" I said casually.

Wrinkling his nose, he tried harder to back step up the slope but only wound up with dark-colored pants. I wondered briefly what the odd-looking dirt was called. Hogarth gave a grunt, frustrated, and tried jogging back up it but to no avail. I sighed as I got up and leaned against the curving jagged black rock. Hogarth gave up trying to be in total control of the situation and stood on my outstretched arm as we both looked out.

He took a deep breath at the same time I relaxed my shoulders.

"No way I was gettin' passed you, huh?"

"Not really." I turned to him and replied lightheartedly. Then, adding more seriously as I set him down. "Hogarth, what happened? I thought we both reached somewhere."

"It's nothing, Giant." he waved at me dismissingly. But then paused and gave a more open examination. "I really opened up last night, IG?" It still had me taken aback too.

"You did."

"And that's part of it, Giant," Hogarth went on to say. "I know it's petty, I _really_ do, but to be completely honest I would have to say that while you can do all of these big, extraordinary things…" he shrugged slightly. "I feel like I take advantage of all that."

Before he could start towards the outskirts of the city, I crossed over and stepped right in front of him. "Hogarth, we're friends. I thought things like carrying you just came with the package." I made sure I wasn't coming off as too overbearing. He shrugged.

"Thanks for the offer," he waved away my offered palm and stated pointblank. "But I'd feel better if we walked in side-by-side. Besides, I think it'd be more appropriate."

"If that's what you want." I brought my arm back up and we began walking together down the rest of the way. As we did, I noticed that the late day sky had a moon to it.

Going back over my talks with Taylor in my head, I recounted what she'd called it.

"A first quarter moon." Hogarth mentioned and I sensed him pause so I turned a bit.

"Hogarth?"

"Iron Giant," He placed his arm to his chest, smiled and gave a half bow. "I would be honored to accept your voluntary chauffeuring request." My face could have dropped.

But I contained myself and copied his move. "And I would be volunteered to accept your honorary acceptance…" I bowed slightly and scratched my head. "…request?"

"Close enough." Hogarth chuckled as he was already set to climb on.

"Why did you change your mind?" I couldn't help but to ask as we rose.

"Because it's better to let a friend's offer in then leave him out in the cold with it." He explained truthfully before adding, "Besides, it's good to have friends in high places."

"I can't agree more." I looked at _him _for emphasis; I didn't like it when people would make jokes about ordinary sentences. "In the forest…" My voice's volume deepened.

"…The mighty Maine forest." Hogarth's higher pitch harmonized with mine.

Then, as we walked towards the city, "The robot sleeps tonight…"

"Very in tune. Do you practice?"

_That voice_. I thought numbly as I stopped in my tracks.

"Trant." Hogarth muttered disgustedly, and I heard Garth Hughes returning.

After Taylor and I had tried so hard to help him, I knew what Trant could do.

"Hogarth..." I sensed him turn towards me as I tried to keep my voice even. "I'm not going to lose you."

To be continued…


	44. The shamed and the shameless: Pt 2 of 2

_"Hogarth…" He caught my shoulder before I could lose it. "Stay with me." At the sound of his voice, I glanced over at him and saw the honest worry on his face. "Stay with me."_

I. - Hogarth.

* * *

I kept from looking at the Giant but I knew exactly what he was experiencing, it was one of those few and far apart instances we were both on the same wavelength; normally in the past this had involved his weapons but that didn't lessen the severity of this moment. I knew once the two of us turned around, it would probably be over. Trant, to my vivid memory, had been electrocuted.

If the Giant could shudder, then that was the feeling I felt standing on his shoulder.

"Stand still." I told him stolidly as his eyes wandered over to me. "He wants you to move."

"Hogarth-." He argued.

"He's already caught us off guard." I turned to him. "If we react too suddenly there's no chance."

"You haven't even heard my reasons for being here." Trant's casual tone irritated me.

"We have to do something." The Giant said sensibly.

"Don't move." I tried to keep the frostiness from my voice. "He'll bait you, just like Kina."

"You would be wrong there." Trant retaliated calmly.

"Hogarth-" The tremor entering the Giant's voice made me really see. I realized, strikingly, that we weren't sharing the same grudge-match. In reality we both shared something more paralyzing.

Fear; it was the fear of letting our polar opposites overcome us. For me, it was Kent's more adept and eloquent grandson and for the Giant it was his over-glossed, updated version. But I knew also that if we didn't face the few last remaining obstacles in our way, we would never move forward.

"I'm not scared of the Motorix." The Giant told me, seeming to understand me better then I could understand myself in this moment. His grey shutters arched inward gravely. "I'm afraid for you."

II. - Daniel.

* * *

I kept my eyes locked to the black mustachioed lead droid operator across the way, my trembling thumb posed over the device I would need to transmit a broadcast of the recorded earlier thoughts of the operators' scandal. He knew I had an ace up my sleeve if he tried to cause the Iron Giant's clone to go berserk. The problem that I faced, however, was far more complicated even if it didn't involve robotolgy. My attention was divided in three directions; Taylor, her mother and this bozo.

"Do you have the recording set?" Trisha's voice barely registered in my multi-tasked focus.

"Set and secure," I reassured the on edge woman. What would you expect; we were all living in the Twilight Zone with humanized robots and same-suited individuals. Anything was fair game.

"Taylor." She said dazedly, as if the realization of her daughter's predicament finally registered.

"The Giant's clones were originally meant to fuse physically and anatomically with infants."

"God." Trisha buried her face into her hands.

Before I had the chance to console her, still keeping my eyes on the now distracted man, I heard the sounds of deliberate stomps approaching from inside the clear-cased space between us and the yet-exposed operators inadvertently working for Dimelo. Pygmy came up to where her head was just a foot from touching the podium Taylor stood upon; which I'd have recommended not occur.

But then, common sense didn't always apply here.

The tension was almost unbearable at this point when the young woman took a few steps back as the droid drew closer, I thought for just a moment that she was finally having a good dose of self-awakening when Pygmy stepped back, readied her big body and leapt up to meet Taylor's height.

Everyone held their breath as the droid's head surfaced to where she met the pregnant girl's wide eyes, and landed to the ground with a sturdy, resounding shake. Anxiety and tension changed into curiosity and wonderment as the droid erratically circled the outstretched podium. She blinked a few times and then jumped up again as Taylor was on the far side watching her. The two caught each other's eyes before she fell back down again, repeating the same shtick several more times.

The funny thing was - it was funny.

People were beginning to smile or grin at each other in restrained laughter as Pygmy kept making great 'leaps' to reach Taylor's height, even I found myself relaxing as the large droid was easing off the raw feelings of mutual distrust. I looked over at Trisha, her flushed face was now red with relief and amusement. The droid jumped around and around over excitedly, like a birthday child.

Taylor finally gave up trying to predict Pygmy's point of resurface and stood in the center.

"Nothing seems to faze her, does it? She'll go after what she wants head-on." Trisha commented.

"No." I chuckled in my husky voice. "I suppose a grandiose game of peek-a-boo proves that."

But the good humor was about to take an unexpected turn. Pygmy ceased her jumping, growing more curious herself as she passed under the extended tread of flooring. We all watched with no thought that the large robot would do anything harmful, when she rose up onto her toes and took the middle of the podium in hand. People began panicking as Pygmy tried to bring it downwards.

"Taylor!" Trisha cried out. Her daughter, stomach and all, was about to go off of the edge.

I locked eyes back with the chief droid operator and we pressed down in unison on our devices.

III. - Trant.

* * *

Realizing there wasn't really much of an option, the two turned to face me. If my life wasn't over with, I would have laughed at the surprised looks they developed when they realized that I stood by only an eight-foot-tall replica of my Motorix. That was an important rule, when you decided to connect bodily with a droid to transmute you it was wise to keep a few back-up manna cartridges.

"Giant," Garth said with no emotion. "I seemed to have dropped my trade tokens." He swerved his arm out to the far right and let a twined blue bag fall from his hand. "Will you set me down?"

The robot leaned down and plucked the bag up between his fingers instead. "Hogarth…"

"Nice Motorix replacement." He sneered humorlessly, leering at me as he took it back.

"Original matching ensembles." I replied innocently, mussing back my dark red hair.

"If Hector is back to try and murder Patroclus, my pal Achilles here _won't… like… it._"

I grinned slightly. "I would have taken your uncanny teamwork as that of the Aeantes."

"Great and little Ajax." The Giant reiterated without amusement towards the analogies.

Hogarth turned to him incredulously.

"Taylor."

"I'm impressed, Giant. Metal sculptures, literature…" He then remembered my presence.

"Speaking of which, how is Helen of Troy?" I asked.

The younger man shot me a hard look. "Care to say that at ground level?"

Surprisingly, the Giant lowered him down in a cautious motion and Garth strode over to me while his droid leaned down in a hovering crouch. As they bore down, I recalled the unpleasant experience with the unrelenting pair back in Iceland and swallowed back bile.

"You… you said only if I endangered your friend again." I struggled to remind the robot.

Nothing in his sharp-eyed expression so much as flinched, he leered at me spitefully. And when I looked back, the six-foot-two man was in my face. "Give me one good reason the Giant shouldn't stomp you into a bloody pulp." He leaned down and inquired indignantly.

I held my own and took a step back, composing myself. "As I said, I am not here-."

Garth clutched me by the shirt front and forced me up to his face, but there was a flash of some haunted realization in his deep blue eyes and he set me down tentatively. I had the strangest feeling that it was not just because of our close proximity. He recovered quickly.

"You're lucky I don't hack your balls off, gauge your eyes out and change them around." I could tell that even as he threatened me with some desire; there was a falter to his once forward and threatening brutality. It was as if Patroclus had discovered himself over time.

"The menace is gone, Garth." I told them both - knowing they could kill me. "I see the emptiness in your threats. Once you believed your friends were dead, you had potential-."

And then a pair of fingers that could pop my head as easily as a grape had my shirt front.

"No, wait." I begged quickly, my limbs trembling as the Giant rose me to his yellow eyes.

"Giant." Hogarth said bemusedly. "He's not worth the effort."

It was amazing, how calm and trusting he was around a creature fifty times his size. That connection they shared tightened the knot in my chest and I strained as far away from the enormous iron behemoth's penetrating stare as much as I could, trying to blur out his face.

"Just do it now." I didn't keep the tremor out of my voice, wanting it to end swiftly.

"You _want_ me to do it?" There was great surprise in his baritone voice.

"Not fully," I admitted. "But I have nothing left in which to live for." My eyes closed.

"Trant." The Giant said in a low, heavy note, and than I felt the ground return. He got up in his crouch as I reopened my eyes; the robot was watching me now with a morose and unsettled expression at my irrational choice. "How dare you make me decide your fate."

"How dare you nearly step out of your noble bounds." I received a rough push.

"Trant, you crazy bastard!" Garth yelled at me angrily. "Do you have a death wish?"

I stood up and brushed myself off, pleased that someone else was questioning my sanity.

"It is a last resolve, Garth."

"Hogarth." The Giant started to correct.

"You're pawn scum, Mansley the third. Impure and simple - Kina's catch of the day."

I had been around Hogarth long enough to learn what puns were. "Kina is gone."

"So is your common sense." He said with a disgusted tone and turned to look at the now darkening sky, sighing roughly. "It looks like we're camping out one final night, Giant."

The robot didn't respond, he now had a decided look in his eyes. "_Trant_," I stifled a deep urge to cover myself with my arms as he said my name tersely. Maybe I could savage a sort of compensation with them like normal Alpha people, or maybe it would finally end.

"Yes." I stood up straight, keeping my shoulders upright so they wouldn't shudder.

"What do you need to tell us?" He asked patiently to the surprise of us both.

Hogarth and the Giant exchanged looks and I saw his fair-skinned face soften in it's deep grimace at his large friend's leniency, the undeserved show of consideration brought an unexpected wave of emotion passing through me; It relieved me to feel human right then.

"You're lucky the Giant's a stickler for mercy," Garth pinned me with another glare and crossed his arms tightly, daring me to do something wrong. "Make it damn good, Trant."

IV. - Taylor.

It's hard to describe falling in love, especially when you're falling. Everything felt like it could just fade away at that moment; my boys had been gone for three long weeks, Mom didn't know what to do with me, and my pregnancy had progressed at a very unhealthy, accelerated pace. I pin wheeled my arms to try to save us at that thought. _No, my baby!_

"Help!" My voice coughed in a choked sob.

And then… the unexpected descent had ended as abruptly as it had started.

I looked up as I was enveloped delicately inside violet-colored, cool metal hands with an unintentionally intimidating pair of large buttermilk eyes looking at me, enraptured. My initial reaction was to try and scoot away from the sudden presence, but I didn't get far.

"Taylor." Her deep, but young femalely sounding voice said. "Taylor… okay?"

A small smile parted my lips. "Pygmy…" I said her name helplessly. The way she was looking at me made my heart beat fast, the way my first crush had made me feel but in a different way. "I'm okay." She lifted her lower shutters a bit as I assured her all was fine.

"Taylor." Pygmy repeated my name in more of a statement. "Taylor?" she switched me gently to one hand and I backed away a little as she curbed two of her fingers in so as to touch the side of my face. I was use to this from the Giant, but this was a little different.

My distrust towards any droids other then him and Gold, wherever she was, still lingered.

I looked to see if she was disappointed, but she only brought them back at my disinterest.

Chewing my lower bowed lip, I pursed it out as I raised a hand slowly to try touching her.

Instead, Pygmy cupped me back into both of her hands like a fairy with broken wings and rose me up to her smooth, iron-flat face. "Taylor-," she sought my devotion, "and me?"

"Us." I confirmed and placed my hand upon her cheek. "You and I."

She started to put a finger to my stomach, paused and then pulled away. I fought an urge to laugh and moved the retreating round tip to touch my bulge. "Us all." Pygmy affirmed.

Who knew the bridge between man and machine could be built by a single material: love.

"All of us." I declared quietly.

V. - Hogarth.

* * *

Despite the fact that we hadn't believed a word Trant had to say, the Giant's conscience won out and we allowed the little red-haired pussy to spend the night a safe distance from us. I wrapped my weather-resistant jacket close around my bare shoulders, trying to get a spark of fire going using two stones as the onset of navy twilight outlined tall towers out in the distance of the main, Cuba-like city: Robocity Japan. The suspense was unnerving.

A grin crossed my face as I got a healthy flame started between my sparse little twig hut, but then a swift swoosh of wind and a pair of big heavy metal feet landed heavily down into the gully-like, black terrain trenches. The volcanoes chained around were inactive as they formed long, vegetation free archipelago; an unnatural earthquake could change that.

My flame nearly flitted out as the Giant's vibrations ended.

As I looked up at him, he leaned down and thrust split sticks right into the dying flicks of fire. My look turned rather wry as he produced another batch of brown for stoking up the blaze which now had an aura of saffron illuminating the outside wood; he sent me a kind of apologetic look as I placed my lighter back into my pocket and he handed me the final tofu-enclosed sandwich. I tried to hide my distaste of the sandwich and my lost appetite.

"We need to be ready for tomorrow." The Giant said with duty plain in his eyes.

"What would I do without you?" I joked and took a large bite, washing it down with coke.

"Let's not think that far." He responded, humoring, and cupped the fire as he slid down in a stretch-legged sit. I watched as the robot eyed his now smelted food supply with a very uneasy look, he saw my anticipant eyes and reached over to retrieve something up higher.

"I bet you slipped Trant a sandwich back there." The words flew out of my mouth.

"He's made a lot of mistakes, Hogarth. But we can't just let him starve."

"Humph!" I glared into the licking flames and ripped an angry bite out of my sandwich as my temper flared hotter then the fire or boiling water. "Queering out of reality and life at the thought of standing alone, populating the past with cyborgs." I got up and kicked dirt.

"Hogarth…" He caught my shoulder before I could lose it. "Stay with me." At the sound of his voice, I glanced over at him and saw the honest worry on his face. "Stay with me."

"Sorry," I said lamely and gently brushed his fingers aside. "You're right." The warmth heated my chilly upper body and cooled my hot bitterness. "It's back in the past, right?"

"Right." The Giant replied pleasantly, producing a metal spoon he had made. I shook my head in amusement and watched as he dipped the big makeshift flatware into the shallow pool of silver, emerging with a sticky, smelling scoop of thick melted metal. "Here I go."

"A silver spoon and a man on the moon…" I mused as the dark side of the glowing white orb had changed from first quarter to a near half point; an affect by the diluted atmosphere.

The large spoon eclipsed the expanding moon, and then rose to bring the smelted muck in to its final destination. "Delicious." He exaggerated, thumbing drops off of his mandible.

"Yum-yum for your metal tum-tum." I chuckled deeply.

"It's not that bad actually." The Giant scooped up another helping. "You drink water…"

"Well, yes, but not metal that smelled like the inside of a smith shop on fire."

"Mmm…"

The ebony shrouded scenery below cast an unnerving feeling over me; I lay sideways and looked out with my arms pressed to my chest to try settling my upset insides. There was no telling what was waiting for us, sometimes this felt less like a journey and more like a maze. I felt a quick poke against my shoulder and, grinning, pushed back the metal hand.

"It's all right, you know," His deep voice said, "I'd never let anything happen to you."

At this point, I was no longer ashamed to show my feelings. "I know, pal… 'Night."

"Good night, Hogarth."

I met his eyes and he met mine. Touched at his earlier kindness towards Trant, I smiled and we shut our eyes as one. The fire's calm heat blanketed me in the front, while the very familiar presence of safety encompassed my backside. I knew with absolute certainty that the Giant would never leave unless he had to, and I believed without a shadow of a doubt that my best friend and I could endure anything. The bond we shared was totally restored.

**Nothing **could come between us.

To be continued…


	45. Water and Blood: Pt 1 of 4

I. - The Giant.

Everything seemed to have a blurred ring around it, misting out further from the fringes and the white shedding earth as my eyes lingered lastingly on one face in particular. I wanted him to be the last thing I saw on the ground, I wanted his image ingrained in my mind forever. The loud stomps of my feet were thundering with finality in my sensors, I knew exactly what I wanted to do now and what needed to be accomplished. My mind was made up and once it was made up, from then on, I rarely second guessed.

"_I love you."_

My feet riveting to life, the hot fuel streaming through my legs and ejecting out of my eager afterburners almost canceled out his words. The world suddenly changed, however, and I turned with only half of my eyesight intact. A girl was approaching me from where I sat; her long gold-brown hair over one shoulder.

"I promised you I would be back." She smiled trustingly. I felt the side of my face, it was only half there.

"_You are you choose to be..." Who? Superman? Yes. But... _then, why did I feel incomplete?

Hogarth's face, his eyebrows arched up and his blue eyes struck in post-grief, creased like cracking ice.

"No…" The word I had learned to use most uttered from my mouth as his image shattered. "NO!"

My eyes snapped open and the muted brown haze of my vision connected up to a partially cloudy sky, I blinked hard and gathered my bearings in realization: I had died once. The heaviness of the change that I had brought to so many people with my choice, how it had caused all of this made me feel very, very old.

"Hey, Giant," I heard a younger voice laugh. It was older, more self-aware. But it was still younger to me.

When I looked over at Hogarth, dressed and finishing off the other half of the large sandwich, he had a smile on his face as he held out some device with a shaky image on its screen. "Whoa, pal, you look like you've been sleeping for a hundred years," He laughed again as I took it from him. "Don't get too old…"

I frowned as he winked at me and went to gathering his things, when I looked down Taylor was looking at me from over the screen and directing the low focus point up to where a large pair of legs were. What I experienced was disbelief as I seemed to see my reflection or one of my other selfs over the transmitter.

"Hi." She said simply.

"Hi…" I said soundly, breathing a little as I examined her a moment and leaned down with my hand out to Hogarth. When Taylor came back on screen, I shook my head in amazement. "No problems with her?"

"Not a one." She smiled over at Hogarth. "Now remember," her tone grew expectant, "You both are only supposed to meet the city sentries, then they'll take care of the rest. They said you'll be teleported to the last time warp in Rockwell… I'll meet you there." Hogarth and I met eyes and he shrugged at this news.

"We gotta do what we've been assigned. If we don't meet Kina it won't hurt my feelings."

"Then we'll get there as soon as we can." I said diplomatically. It was better to take charge then not.

Taylor and I shared uncertain looks as we turned to my copy.

"We're going to be together soon," Hogarth looked between the four of us, though I could see Pygmy was just curious about what was happening. He tried to boast our spirits. "As soon as this is over with, guys."

"Sometimes I wonder how you can be so sure." Taylor's smile turned grim.

"I just have faith things will work out in the end. They always do." He turned to look at me, knowingly.

II. – Taylor.

I watched as all of my blue-suit wearing children in my Global Studies class (the most sourly anticipated time of the day for those who veered from this subject) entered the dome where Pygmy and I were. Since our earlier interaction had been more successful than anyone aside from me had thought, I had given a proposal that it would be good for the kids to get better acquainted with a droid who wasn't just a tool.

Most of the droid operators, elated with the discovery of a second droid having free-will, had been more then on board with it. I could tell something was brewing with my mother, Mr. Barnes and some of the other head officials in yellow suits, but I knew it was better just to stay away and make the best of life.

"Everyone," I held my swollen girth only slightly consciously, and gestured over at Pygmy as she stood with a patient, observant look on her face. "Pygmy," my lips turned up at her, "And Pygmy, everyone."

"This is the droid that's going to bond with your baby?" One of the kids asked, a black-haired boy.

"Well… yes." The smile I wore turned a little tight. "I'd rather save personal questions like that for after class, what I had in mind was that maybe she could join us." At the word 'us', I heard a shaking footstep.

With frightened gasps, the children huddled together closer. I spent the next ten minutes trying my best to encourage them but they only shook their heads or looked away. My predicament only worsened as a man who had been sent to watch me, some assistant lead Droid engineer or something, was striding over to us.

_This couldn't get any worse… _I complained in my head.

"Hi, Pygmy." Someone said from inside the group and I felt my dashed hopes rise as a blonde-haired boy came out with his quiet, but willing light grey eyes staring up the length of the droid. "I know your dad."

"Dad?"

"The Iron Giant," Tress grinned slightly, and came over to sit right beside her foot as she sank to her rear.

I owe you, my mouth formed the words silently but he only beamed at me charmingly. The eight-year-old had grown quite a bit in the last few weeks, after an episode of lost faith over Hogarth and the restoration of it when he had saved Tress, it had transformed him into a confident young boy. I could only smile at him.

Never would Hogarth truly understand the positive impact he had on others. Pygmy, Tress, me...

"Ah, a fine lesson to teach these children." The man said as he approached. "What an abundant resource!"

"Thanks…" I said but frowned. "Uh, I think."

The children gathered around Pygmy excitedly.

"Yes, what an abundant resource this droid is of geothermal substance and how useful it will be when-."

He suddenly stopped talking when he realized that I wore a horrified look.

"I did not just say that." His shoulders dropped back.

"Oh, yes." Daniel suddenly appeared behind us with a few yellow-suited men, Archer and - my mother.

III. -The Giant.

After Hogarth said Trant had left on his own accord, we started down deeper into the ashen rock torrents where everything seemed to grow a little more humid. Hogarth's idea had been to wait until the rest of my liquid metal had settled and transmute at the base of the pathway leading towards the last city on our trek.

"I don't know if you can feel it, but this weather is - whoa!" He removed his shirt where sweat ringed his abdomen and torso."We must be fast approaching a twenty-four hour sauna or something. It feels hotter."

Of course, I noticed his enthusiasm almost instantly. It wasn't too hard to tell when Hogarth had an idea in mind. "Let's just concentrate on getting straight through the rest of these rocks, no distractions. Promise?"

"Absolutely." He placed his hand to his chest as we started over the last range of dark earth, smiling a bit.

I tried not to look too suspicious as Hogarth climbed atop my shoulder and we peered over the edge to see a whole gray-smooth dip of land where large pools of steaming water rose inside jagged, crater-appearing indentions in the ground. As we both stepped through, Hogarth began explaining to me about archipelagos.

"I saw things similar to this when I lived in Iceland." My inserted information went reply less. "Hogarth?"

When I turned around, he had migrated to a tall gray rock that looked molded and smooth. We caught gazes as he picked up a rock, gave it an experimental toss and skipped it across a shallow pool that was fed by a hidden spring of apparently only relatively warm water. He looked up at me, grinned, and stripped to shorts.

"Hogarth..." I placed my hands to my hips. "You promised."

"And as I recall, promises didn't apply to our friendship. Besides, what's an hour or two before we go?"

"Hogarth!" Why was my friend constantly trying to break the rules nowadays?

"See ya on the other side, buddy!" He laughed, undid his knotted up hair and swooped down the channel.

IV. – Hogarth.

The Giant stomped to the edge and watched disapprovingly as I reappeared at the bottom, water pushing against my muscled limbs as I landed into the unusually mildly heated pool. It wasn't that I was trying to be reckless, but I had a feeling it would be a while before I got clean again. Being difficult with each other was just part of it, sometimes it was complicating having a friend with humanity who wasn't born a human being.

"Hogarth." The Giant patronized. "We don't have time for this!" he now frustratedly paced the side.

I met his face with a lopsided smirk, but this quickly faded as I felt a push under my legs. He squinted his shutters together as I gestured him to scoop me out, but before either of us could respond a giant gush of what I found to be a geyser pushed up under my legs and propelled me out of the water in one big burst.

The Giant shouted my name but the water roaring around me made it very difficult to make out what else he said, and that didn't matter anyway. I clenched my teeth together and enjoyed the rush of steamy liquid in spite of myself. A hand instantly went out to seize me, but couldn't quite catch me in time as I plummeted.

He was looking understandably miffed as I resurfaced in a float. "Why don't you join me? Maybe take a few of your five-hundred thousand loads off." I laughed, but then tried more honestly. "You look stressed."

"And you're not helping."

I rolled my eyes, flashed him a devious grin and dunked back into the steamy depths. From underneath I watched the Giant squatting down to try and use his eye lights to get a closer examination of me. The white orbs probed around the funnel-like bottom and I watched as he held his ear-sensor down to the ground. My breath was beginning to nag at the top of my lungs as he flicked his bottom jet like a lighter, held onto the shadow of my body with his white eyes and pressed down firmly on the geyser as it began, triumphant now.

The vibrations worried me briefly, but they faded as a stream of bubbles flew up from under his giant foot.

_Groovy. _I thought, scheming.

Everything went as light as air as I floated gently up to the surface inside one of many thousands of clear, shiny balls; the Giant was looking around anxiously as my image appeared on all of them. The way he was glaring it looked like my luck was about to run out, but I kept my cool and lounged back against the insides.

"Wow, nice touch Giant. You've made a whirlpool slash bubble bath. Now you've really gotta try'er out!"

His eyes finally centered on one bubble in particular, and the robot neatly popped it with his finger tip.

"Now you have to listen." He said in a tone that edged on authoritative.

I breathed in and out. "Giant, you're right. No more fooling around." He seemed surprised by my show of agreement. "But first…" I pressed my hands together and pointed down to the pool. "See how deep it is?"

"Well…" He was caught off-guard as he sank nearly all of his leg into it. "Pretty deep. Why?"

"Thanks Giant!" I called up to him as I jumped off his hand, spinning around to land on my back.

"Hogarth?!" His bass voice rumbled incredulously as I hit the water.

"You know what your problem is," I told him casually, backstroking. "You take things too seriously."

"And you don't take them seriously enough sometimes." He knelt down with a glare in his white eyes.

"Most of the time I do." I spun around so my back was to him. The force of another round of lukewarm geyser pushed up against my back, and propelled me into the air. "C'mon, Giant, try it. You'll miss out."

Unexpectedly, he clenched the soaring spout of water and I was surprised to see his serious glower in my face. If I hadn't known better I would have sworn he would throw me for all I was worth - I knew better.

"I said only sometimes," The Giant spoke calmly, but his eyes only lightened a little. "This is important."

"I know that," I kept my tone even as well, turning my back so he couldn't see my face. The weight of all that had gone on last night was beginning to get me down deep. "Cool your jets and mellow out already."

He rotated his ballpoint wrist around so I was a foot from his eyes. "Why don't you mellow _in_?"

"Trant." I muttered before turning my narrowed eyes on him.

"What?"

Before we could argue further I heard a dangerously low rumble. "Seriously, Giant, _cool_ your jets."

Still perplexed, he turned to look down and saw with a wide-eyed expression the profusion of excess bubbles drifting up. I waited until the robot had lifted his giant foot from the port of warm water now.

IV.

I felt my jaw drop as I looked through my fingers, and then down as Hogarth as he was falling back first into the water. My iron jaw clenched as he grinned and waved at me before twisting around and landing gently into the now overflowing pool. Uneasily, I removed my foot from the water's depths and watched as Hogarth slid in a thin stream from that one to a larger one. I didn't get it, why was he acting like this?

"Just go with the flow, Giant." He said smoothly as he wound up on the other side. I knelt down and put my arms between my legs, keeping my narrowed eyes on him intact. "Come on, you know you want to."

"Even if I did, I'd just be wasting time."

"We've got nine days." Hogarth argued coolly. "And until you come in, I'm not coming out."

"Well, until you come out I'm not leaving this spot." I argued.

"Suit yourself…" And then, so quietly that he just barely wanted me to hear, "… big baby,"

That did it.

"All right," I said promptly, straightening out my shoulders. "Watch _this_."

V.

I peered over at the '50-foot-tall robot as he stared certainly into the water, gave both his sides a starting rotation and then, to my astonishment, took off his half-perfect IG insignia-fied armor and pivoted around on his large arms so that everything below his tubular ribcage spun around in one great spin. He shuttered his eyes in and landed straight into the water. I barely had time to brace myself as I was carried away by a large wave of more flooding water. The Giant scooped me safely in one of his hands and leveled me back.

The water curved up the side of the thin, ridge-worn valley like it was in a reservoir and gravitated back down as he sprawled his enormous cylindrical legs up onto a jutting up rock. "I knew I'd rub off on you."

"Not as much as I rubbed off on this place." He said with concern, but a chuckle started not far behind.

"Smooth." I said approvingly, lounging back as the water drifted me under his towering legs. It probably looked pretty hilarious; an enormous robot having to stick his legs out of a hot spring with his huge arms environing the better part of the outside while some lunatic floated casually around like it was no big deal.

But then, it wasn't a big deal. I was glad to see that he was finally loosening up about being on a constant look-out for danger, especially when it concerned our sizes. Out of us both, I was the more danger prone.

"You were right Hogarth," I heard him say, surprisingly laid-back. "This was something I wanted to do."

"See," I hoped I didn't sound gloating… but then, I kind of did. "Relaxation is good in moderation."

We spent the next hour or so just enjoying each other's company, it was like there was no trouble outside our world and we could just be ourselves. This, when it came right down to it, was beyond easy. It was at these times that I felt the most content, and if it could have gone on like that than object I would not ever.

As I toweled off, my mind clear and everything refreshed, I was beginning to believe that Trant had not gone through with what he had contemplated the other night. We had been in a long discussion, and he had warned me about the tales of robots enslaving humans; which I reminded him had not been proven.

"You all right, Hogarth?" The Giant asked, upbeat as he smacked his metal jowls to dislodge water.

"No…" I said with ghastly fright, my hand shaking before me. "_Look_."

There, around a crack in the ridge, was spittle of blood leaking into the pool.

"Did I hurt you?" He was mortified.

"No… it's, its Trant. He… he actually did it." I was ridged in pure shock.

"Did what, Hogarth? Please tell me!"

I met his eyes with my own deadened ones. "He was just talking about it… I didn't think he would."

"What?" This was his calm inquiry.

"Drown himself."

VI. - Taylor.

My mother didn't look at me, but she looked at Pygmy. She looked at Tress and the others, but she wouldn't look at me. And when she did look at me, it was right through me.

VII. - Julie - Jaunary 3rd 1964.

There was a knock on my door as me, my daddy, Apples and his mama sat around for a late New Years dinner.


	46. Water and Blood: Pt 2 of 4

I. January the 3rd 1965. - McCoppin's Scrap yard – Original narrative.

* * *

Dean kept his eyes narrowed, his shot of coffee gripping in his hands as he tried to absorb the information flying around in his head. Robert remained perfectly calm while across from him. Miss Rhinestien was there for support while Gordon was gone with Julianne, but it was hardly enough to keep his surmounting temper in check. If the man had known, why not take action?

"There's nothing I could do." Trisha's brother sighed heavily. "Once they captured me, I was at the droid operators' mercy. If it wasn't for the thought transmitter in my ear they luckily did not find, they would have teleported me back here in my time from Iceland with a zeroed identity."

"I guess I should be thankful." Dean muttered, combing back his black hair as he leaned down further in between his legs. "But thankfulness hasn't brought my step-son back, or your niece."

"As long as they make it to the final point outside of Japan they'll be fine."

"That's strong enough, 'aint it?" The heavyset woman eyed the black-brewed liquid by Dean.

"I'd really prefer not to be taken care of… but, yeah, it's fine."

"Oh, honestly! It's a wonder you do anything around here, what with all these old designs."

Dean looked up at her then, grateful, and then over at a suddenly-nervous Robert.

"She'll keep you on your feet." A small grin crossed his face. "There's no arguing with that."

"I promise you, Dean," He told him firmly. "So long as Hogarth and the Giant make it to the outside of the city, they'll be fine. Nine more days will pass and they'll be back in our period."

The thirty-nine-year-old man raised a bushy black brow. "And if they go inside?"

II. – Taylor.

* * *

"Well, young miss, this is another fine mess I'm caught up in."

I fastened the blue blazer around my stomach hurriedly, fuming silently. "Nice seeing you too."

"So you're what all this fuss is about?" My mother circled around the large robot with critical eyes, not impressed beyond any measure. "Really, Erika, could you have taken a dumber path?"

"Excuse me!" My nerves were shot as I whirled on her.

"You heard me, young lady!" She was angry again. Her eyes were piercing from the disapproval she had promised me she would not show. I couldn't look at Pygmy then; couldn't see a reaction.

"You said you'd accept her!" My voice broke by the strain of my emotions.

"I say a lot of things, Erika. But this…" Time seemed to freeze; she lashed out and grabbed at my jacket like she wanted to rip it apart. But when her eyes traveled up, she froze. It was as if she had just seen some kind of truth, realization invaded her pupils as she released her secure hold on me.

"Is this what it's come down to, Mother?" I asked sorely. "A grabbing match?"

"Perhaps." She said loftily, brushing her hands down her own jumpsuit. "I…" The well-played nonchalant act faltered as she looked up at Pygmy once and turned to leave. "She's… too big."

I felt myself running on dry when someone tugged at my hair.

III. --- Hogarth and the Giant.

I didn't quite make sense of what Hogarth was saying. "Could you… tell me that again?"

He paced back and forth at the base of my feet, biting down hard on his lip until he let out a frustrated groan and strode away from me. I gathered myself together and followed just as obediently as I could. _Drown_. That wasn't a word I was familiar with. But as we got to the very edge of tubular structure, the horrible truth dawned on me. _Drown… in water…?_

* * *

"That means to have your oxygen cut off." I explained in obligation. "It…" as my words trailed the horrific one that I had blocked from my mind re-entered, and I met the metal man's eyes as that cruel, terrible word I had used to mock his sacrifice flooded back now.

_Suicide. _All feeling left my chest as he was looking expectantly at me. _Dear God._

"He's…" The Giant's outer light beams widened in shock.

"…he's in limbo."

"What?" His perplexed pitch sounded odd in the baritone.

"It means that he's not alive…" I half-heartedly said. "But he's not dead, either. Get it?"

The weight of my lie seemed to work, the Giant centered his orb eyes and accepted my explanation --- as always. But that didn't keep the grief from nudging at my ribcage as I gazed out to the now networks of clear round tracks that signaled the end of all oxygen.

"Well, IG," The ache in my voice was barely concealed. "I guess we better transmute."

"We will," He said with such assertiveness that it made me look up at him. What I saw was the last thing I expected to find; hurt. But it was unexpected because he knew of the full-blown fault that I had intended toward him. "After you explain why you lied to me."

VIII. – Taylor.

"Taylor…" Pygmy tilted her head down at me, entranced by the fight. "Why she mad?"

"She's not mad." I sighed, clutching my stomach tighter in my arms. "She's my mother."

But a deeper understanding residing in her eyes surprised me.

"I'm big." She stated and kneeled down. My worse fears gripped at me as Pygmy placed a long finger tip to my hand and I closed it around. "Is big… bad? You not big, but I am."

"Pygmy…" Frustration was nagging at me, but I could see the honest curiosity she posed. "You know that I love you, right?" as I took her digit in my hands, she began responding.

"I love you."

A smile at her chipper answer was hard to avoid. "And we both love my baby." I held my stomach less securely now, allowing the robot to trace small circles on it. When she met my eyes again her assurance made by my words made them water. "And we're a family."

_Family. _The one thing I had never had, it was like a terrible dream that evaded me.

Pygmy's eyes lit up in a smile as she flattened her hands out and I stepped inside of them, smiling back gently. She raised me up to her eyes fondly. "And if we both believe that." I told her as I carefully sprawled my body against part of her violet face, resting my cheek down on her cool metal with a reminded sigh. "That's all that matters. I swear, that's _all_."

I saw the surprise she showed at my fierce declaration. "That's all."

My biggest reminder came as she repeated me. Just like everyone once, she was young.

"Maybe." My mother suddenly re-appeared down below, stating simply. "Maybe love is all that matters." She looked at Pygmy and the prejudicism began to falter. "Hello Pygmy."

V. – The Giant.

I found that as time went on, it was much easier to express myself openly with someone other than Taylor. This time was no exception. "Hogarth, how could you lie to me like that?"

"Giant…" He tried to cover up his tracks.

"To _me_?" My strained effort to keep my low vocals in check was very difficult.

The tortured look lining his face made me want to take it back. I hated to see him hurt at my words. He was my friend forever; I was his companion for as long as I fiercely hoped he would live. In the end he and Taylor were the only ones who mattered in my existence now, they were the only ones who accepted me as I somehow was --- a humanized droid.

"You can tell?" Hogarth said in disbelief for a moment, and then he relaxed his face. "All right, Iron Giant. You're a big guy. You can handle it…" he looked out angrily as the sun was peaking over endless highways, fighting down something deep. "He ended himself."

"His soul is still alive?" I asked meekly. This felt like the dream-state I had had last night.

"Yep," Hogarth sharply replied, making me wonder if he was sarcastic. "Alive n' Hell."

I lowered down on my chest, wrapping my paneled arms around myself at this thought. It was terrible, but I refused to linger. I remembered the word vaguely, but it was just best at moments like this to focus on what was happening then. Now, I was losing Hogarth. It made me angry to think of what I was putting us both through, things were getting worse.

_Please stay with me… _My mind begged him as he paced. I watched as he ripped the band from his hair, I flinched as he threw his jacket to the ground, took his shirt off and tied it around his waist, and then I shuttered my eyes closed as he turned to pass me in his fury.

"I hated him; I wanted to kill the bastard at times." The disgusted note that I heard him use sometimes was deepened by a new meaning; wickedness. That was part of him I had tried to understand from the time I had seen my friend backing another man with a threat.

Now I feared that I had failed him entirely.

"I'm sorry, Hogarth." But when I opened my eyes, instead of seeing him leave, I saw that he had his back against my arm. He said to me quietly then that he hadn't wanted Trant to endure this pain; Hogarth's stories of Superman and hope were changing very drastically.

"His soul isn't dead, Giant, souls can never be destroyed because God didn't allow it."

"Then we have nothing to worry about." My vague reply seemed meaningless.

Hogarth buried himself inside his arms, the agony ripping in his voice and the sadness I'd seen him endure at the portal finally agonized me as well. "Better to be dead then to be in pain for the rest of eternity." His grievances were almost too much for me; so I fought on.

"Better to be something then nothing."

I almost covered my sensors as Hogarth squeezed at his arms and screamed out in a now muffled noise, letting all of his sorrow and ache out. Because I didn't get the privilege of showing my emotions like that, because I didn't get the twisted pleasure of destroying all that was in my sight. Because I vowed to control myself at all costs, I suppressed myself.

What had he said to me before? What was that last thing he had told me before I went and left him which had damaged him more then helped? _I love you_. Those were the words I'd expressed for Taylor and him; to give them a future if I wasn't around to be a part of it.

Hogarth walked to the edge of the black-top cliff, and heaved a deep sigh away from me.

I attempted as I had several nights before to reach out for him, but I couldn't force him to look at me. Free-will was something I could never endanger; it was something I couldn't tamper with especially because of my size and original purpose, but he needed my help.

"I'm sorry too, Giant." Hogarth said sincerely, recovering.

_Love... can I say that to him? Love?_

"I…" The words wouldn't come out. Those three words could not form aloud. "Hogarth," I switched over on my arms and leaned down to look at him, saying slowly, "I always let you help me." His turbulent face smoothened. "You've taught me, fed me, and stood up-"

"What's your point?" He cut me off spitefully.

"My point is that you always fight me." I lowered down a bit more as he backed away.

"I've let you help me." Hogarth turned away. "We talked all that night, remember?"

"Only because I forced you," I lamented. "And even afterwards you tried to walk away."

"Garth Hughes only walks away when he feels like it." My spirits crushed as he rose to his feet, brushed himself off, and walked callously to the end of the rocky edge. "Let's face the facts, Giant. You _can't _help me. I tried," he sighed lightly, "You tried… but…"

"But what?" I feared the worse then. He was going to want to part ways. My initial fright at that thought revolved into hard acceptance, as it always did; I'd done that to him once.

"Accept me." Hogarth turned to meet my eyes then, and I could see the fatigued plea that was crumbling in them. He had fought for so long to fight himself, now he realized that at this moment he was never going to kill his demons. Just like I, painful as it was, couldn't.

I lowered down, he turned to look down at his feet, and placed my hand to his back.

"Hogarth, you know I do." Even as natural as I felt saying this, my voice wasn't natural.

There was nothing natural about me.

"I know." He sniffed hard, ran the back of his hand across his eyes and then thumped his chest. "I know." I touched the oceanic orb he held out and the two of us entered the tubes.

Was it possible that spending time with me was making him less human?

VI.

_They bought it, Macktan. _The vice-chief engineer TCT'ed. _Our units in __Japan__ will lead the boy and his robot to their dooms, and we will gain control of all the Giant's copies._

_To think… _Glee was evident in his literal context. _The past people believed they had us._

_Just a while longer until we meet our master on the other side of time._

**A/N: **Remember Archer's niece's words; forming a bond with technology is dangerous.

To be continued...


	47. Water and Blood: Pt 3 of 4

A/N: Happy Veterans Day.

_',' Our faith in each other was unbreakable. ','_

I. – Hogarth.

* * *

**W**e didn't know what it was. Maybe it was our depressed spirits, maybe it was our refusal to use the tubular structures to travel to the city, whatever the reason; the Giant and I found that we could no longer transmute at will. With my helmet secure, my head-to-toe suit and two-canister oxygen pack on my shoulders, I sat sulking on his large one.

The Giant's white eyes traveled towards me a moment, seemed to shift back and forth in thought and then focused resolutely before he casually bumped me up in the air from where I sat miserably hunched over. "Taylor wouldn't want to see you like this," he leaned over.

"She didn't need to see a lot of things." I told him, switching my visor up so that my eyes were meeting his. "That hasn't stopped her before. But, you're right, I need to cheer up."

"You don't know for sure if Trant did it." He reasoned, but I saw his unease show.

My friend's obsessive need for reassurance awoke me from my stupor. "Even if he did," I rose to my feet and looked out to the networking distance. "We need to keep moving on."

"I'll have to come to terms with my issues as well, if I'm going to come back."

I turned to look at him, the sunlight played off of his wide red and blue covered bust but the gleam that pierced across his glossed over coat did not alit his hard wrought iron face set forever in a motionless hold; the eye-catching shine did not touch his eerily low moon beam ones. He could be a statue, an outfitted skyscraper metal mannequin, but as his gaze returned to meet mine I saw a super humanity that manifested just below his aglow bulbs.

It was super… because it was unnatural.

"I'm use to making permanent decisions." The Giant interrupted my observation.

_Even if it turns out they aren't permanent. _I thought sarcastically.

"Hogarth, are you all right?" Concern replaced his omniscient-like gaze.

"Uh... what? Yeah, I'm fine. But you... you're considering coming back to Rockwell?"

"The decision would be permanent. And, I want to. But you do remember what happened last time."

"I remember, pal." I kept my voice soft but serious, trying to get back on track. "_But,_ you use should your certainty to make the decision that will make _you_ the happiest Giant."

"Hmm." He tilted his crest-head downwards and then up. "Well, we certainly won't reach the city at this pace." The Giant gave me a clever look, placed his hand up for me to jump on and tested his jet boasters before eyeing me down. "Up for doing it the old way, pal?"

I looked at him in disbelief. "Yeah," my earlier uncertainties vanished as I wrapped both of my arms around his closing fingers and held on now. "Go for it, IG, old school cool!"

We took off in a burst of flame. As I looked back, the lashing orange tails hadn't begun to evaporate. Even as we sped away and my eyes lingered back I still witnessed that the laps of fire seemed to solidify in mid-air. That's when the memory of the oxygen escaping my lungs came back. I was left agape in the Giant's hands; streams of his hot fuel were now leaving trails of petrified chemicals in frozen waves. Looking up I saw him staring ahead.

He was oblivious, or maybe --- he was finally listening to me about the unchangeable.

II. – Taylor.

* * *

The narrow pathway we walked along back towards the hub of the medical facilities felt a little wider as my mother and I moved at a slow pace, my hands were resting casually on my enormous stomach as I carefully recounted the details that led to my current state.

"And so _this---_." She gestured in exaggerated sweeps at the protrusion. "Was unplanned."

"Completely." I told her honestly, still clinging to the hope that she would accept it.

My mother took a deep breath and brushed some of the bangs from her eyes, "You really do…" she turned to me after a moment, "love them. Even if it means defying all ethics?"

I looked down the hall and saw that Pygmy was peering through at us from her enclosure, ducking back out of sight before I caught her eye. "I can't explain it Mom," the smile was already on my face. "I never planned to fall in love with a guy who founded transforming robots, or even to love his best friend like I would love you or my uncle. It just occurred."

"Fate." She shook her head, but from the corner of my eye I saw that she was looking in between me and the spying juvenile droid. "You have changed… very beautifully, dear."

I turned to her, surprised.

"It so obvious you've found love in such an extraordinary way." She smiled sincerely.

"It's true." I smiled meekly. We watched as Pygmy seemed elated from watching us and amazingly began to position herself in a crouch, head bending over, then sprang forth in a complete roll. My mother and I laughed quietly together as we embraced --- she began to push herself over and over again in enormous summersaults. "We'll do gymnastics later."

"After we find out what to do with him." Mom rubbed my stomach gently. "Or her…?"

"Actually-."

"Taylor!" Inx suddenly appeared from the doorway, racing towards us. "We've got to get you out of here." He appeared with sweat creasing on his dark-skinned brow, his cropped black hair messy and his slit brown eyes fully frazzled as he looked down to my ring-less finger. "They found out…" he gasped. "And for the third offense, they will issue out a…"

"Inx." I said worriedly, my mother and I righted him as I asked. "Found out what?"

"How you became…?" His eyes traveled to my stomach.

"No." I whispered in quiet shock.

He nodded gravely. "That will give the Council all they need to allow the droid operators to start experimenting with cyborg science, to experiment… on you. It would give them a final resort to save the human race by creating super humans. Or, more plainly, create…"

The stability of my mother's acceptance collapsed under my feet. "A superman."

"The only way to save you is by getting you and your mother out." Inx rationed. "_Now_."

I loved Hogarth and the Giant, they were my boys no matter if they were mud and grass, but I would not subject myself or any of my kind to become what we were not. This had gone on too long. I was made of flesh and bone, not fire and brimstone; at least not yet.

III. – The Giant and Hogarth.

* * *

The sight before us was hard to describe. Ramparts that could have been made from iron or something similar to it rimmed out at a seemingly endless span like castle fortresses, the tubular highway had grown together in one straight rod of clear cylinder as the figure of a single black-suited person with something bright-purple beside him or her was at the only entrance way available. The Giant looked down at me, wanting me to decide on this.

"There's no other way. And besides, Taylor told us specifically to meet with the sentry."

He nodded, looked uneasily at the thick-stoned wall and angled down to meet our guide.

* * *

I couldn't help but recalling Trant's words from the first time I had been in a city, about my original set of clones being used as parts to rebuild everything. As I dove into a gentle landing about fifty yards from the woman and her droid, my mind was off lingering on an unsettling thought: What if they tried to include me in this structure? I sighed at that idea.

"It's not like they would turn you into a draw bridge." Hogarth said suddenly. I looked at him grinning in my hands and was thankful that he was himself again as I put him down.

"And what would be the moat?" I humored him as we walked the short distance.

He looked back up at me from the lead, serious. "I'm sorry for my actions back there."

My shutters curved in understandingly. "Just tell me what's going on next time, okay?"

Hogarth nodded. "I'll work harder on it."

"Do." I urged.

We reached the area where the woman who could have been around Hogarth's age sat on an oval-backed seat with a purple droid standing patiently by her side. They ignored both of us easily as they separated different parcels of paper that looked dated. Hogarth moved his shoulders back and marched up to them, demanding their attention… he didn't earn it.

"Hell-o? I know you both can hear me!"

"It's miraculous how the occasional quake sounds like a human voice." She spoke with a strange, eloquent accent, flipping her shiny long brunette hair over one shoulder. "Berlin, would you mind handing me that one document, the one with the ancient script 'Sony'?"

I lowered down from my normally intimidating height, trying to reason. "Excuse me, but we need to get to the portal opening in Rockwell, Maine. Are you the ones meant to help us?" the woman paused a moment, glanced up at me from the top of her eyes and sighed.

"Well, I can tell one of you possess manners. That's quite common in droids here."

"What do you mean?"

She smiled at the sides of her mouth. "I can help you… and you?"

I turned to my friend. "Hogarth?"

* * *

Nothing could have prepared me for this moment; nothing. I thought I would forever be turned off by a living female who wasn't Taylor. After having discovered the awful truth of what the pasty-faced, angular girl Kina had done to me, I had felt a somewhat aversion to of meeting other women. But the young woman before us, who at least, was up there in early-to-mid twenties, was a vision of renewed hope. Her defined proportions stunned me.

"We…" I swallowed hard. "We need to get to where he said."

The woman's brown eyes deepened. "You will have to follow me into the city. I will not normally allow those without passes enter. But…" she looked at the Giant. "I still won't."

"What?!" We both said in unison.

"He is too human-like." She explained to me point-blank. "Those kinds are dangerous."

"This is important." The Giant argued carefully, but desperation wasn't lost in his voice.

"Maybe you should start explaining," I got a little closer demandingly, but her droid was quick to rise up to greet me, "We've traveled all this way, something has to happen now."

"Do you know of what we could face beyond this city?" She looked at me deductively.

"I got the run down from an old chum of mine last night." I replied bitterly. "I know what we might be up against, and, well we," My gaze shifted to the Giant, he met it trustingly.

"We won't leave until you help us." His voice edged with confidence now in insertion.

She paid attention to our pleas.

"Our relationship isn't like most others," I explained to her in a gentle, deliberate voice; it just could not end like this. "My girlfriend is caring for _his _clone copy, who I took with me for the last eight months, my younger sister loves anything that's robots-related..."

"Julie." The Giant said in a pleasant tone.

"Yeah." I grinned slightly up at him. "This is the last leg of our journey," the good times reverted away as we focused back on the final obstacle of our trip. "We need your help."

She appeared unconvinced, glancing up at the Giant emotionlessly. "Befriending a huge hunk of metal like this one, I had heard of the reports but didn't believe it myself really."

"Oh, he's a huge hunk of metal all right."

I felt his eyes turn to look at me at this; my hand rose and touched the bare part of where the refurbished iron peeked through at the ankle. The metal was cold and the reminder of a motionless skyscraper returned to my mind. But, even at that, I still met his white eyes.

"But he's my hunk of metal." Emotion tapered my throat. "And I couldn't imagine a day without him." I managed to contain myself as I watched him raise his lower shutters now.

The burn of a flush heated the back of my ears as the Giant placed his hand to my back; he said with more courage than I'd shown. "And I couldn't imagine a day without him."

She stared at us for the longest moment, and nodded certainly. "You passed the test."

"The what?" I said lamely, crossing my arms at this.

"I heard from my supervisor of a couple of self-serving top droid operators with a few clones having got caught trying to poach the recovering bald eagle species." She said as she fingered a wrist watch on her thin arm, which was held tight by the black jumpsuit.

I could have keeled over. Not from Drick or Drock; but from my thoughtless breakfast.

"We will have to travel through the city to retrieve the teleporter, so few are available."

"You'll help us." I stated in open relief.

She smiled at me for the first time. "My droid's special function is a lie detector."

We both looked to the light green that formed an aura to the dark purple robot's eyes.

"This will take a moment. I am Shanesha and it is named Berlin, for your information."

"Why were you looking at her that way before Hogarth?" The Giant suddenly asked me.

His question took me by surprise. "Uh, what do you mean?"

"It's the same way you look at Taylor." He said it not in accusation, but in befuddlement.

"Well… honestly," I remembered when I had been dishonest with him earlier that day; it caused a rush of strong guilt to clench my chest. What had I been doing? But then, more importantly yet, what was I doing now? "Men do that sometimes, Giant. It's a reaction."

He cocked his head unsurely; not at the nature of unfaithfulness but for his inner need in the sanctity of my convictions, and I realized more clearly that anything I did would affect him as it would if he did anything to me. But that didn't matter, the Giant wouldn't harm me.

The fact of the matter was, because of him I still had faith and if my faith in him were broken it would be over for us both. And I knew better then that. Our faith in each other was unbreakable.

IV. – Trisha and Taylor.

* * *

I didn't stop long enough to hear my daughter complain. Before I knew it I, the man who called himself Inx (considerably easier to adjust to then 'Hogarth' ) and a forever faithful Daniel rushed her towards the populated throngs of people who were witnessing what we had feared for the last several weeks; the fully developed Giant clone would be hijacked.

"Pygmy!" Taylor shrieked from the noisy crowds pushing and shouldering their way as the droid had gone from moving about playfully to ebbing and jerking around painfully.

"Taylor!" The too high-pitched female voice --- like a young girl's --- called out.

Tears ringed my eyes at the thought of that creature writhing in anguish because of some half-brained attempt to strike fear into armless citizens. Through a blur of tears, I looked up to see the jaw-dropping transformation take place. Pygmy's gangly, six-paneled arms and legs, which moved with a sort of grace, retracted in to be replaced by thin limbs that acted like spider legs. Taylor clung to me, heartbroken as the robot's smooth, lavender cranium sunk into a deep recession and the rest of her body rounded out into a saucer dish.

"She's still Pygmy," I heard Taylor say through a shudder of emotion. "It doesn't…"

"Taylor." I grasped both of her arms and turned her to face the harsh reality. "Look."

"No!" She snapped, fiercely straining away.

"What did you see?" I demanded between clenched teeth. "And not just her, but with the Giant. When he, that _creature_ Erika Roberta, was in his weaponry state what was he? He was a _weapon _Erika." I shook her shoulders for emphasis. "He was a danger to all of us."

"He _is _one of us." She argued feebly.

"No, Erika. He's a machine." I was finally doing it. _Finally,_ I was getting through to her.

"No," Taylor muttered in near blubbers, seeming to resist reality. "He's… I mean, we…"

* * *

And I remembered him. The way his eyes seemed to light up more each passing day that I showed up to help him when he was in his unstable state. And I was reassured by him. He told me that he was sure we would leave, he was sure we would find Hogarth. And it renewed me. It didn't matter to him who my parents had been, and it didn't matter to me what he was. So why, _why_, did it matter to everyone else who I chose to be friends with?

"It's because of _it _that that creature Pygmy is here and ---," my mother tried with every ounce of her vocal might to impress into me, "It's because of _it_ that you'll be in labor!"

"It's because of the Giant that you're still alive." I whirled on her, alarmingly in control even in that moment of mass panic. "And it's because of Pygmy Hogarth kept his faith."

I grabbed Inx's hand and was surprised when another hand, a surprisingly well-muscled fourteen-year-old older brother of Tress's, pulled me along to the opening of the encased clear dome enclosure. I strained to look back at my mother, fearing I would never see her after this but the sight of a completely transformed, arachnid-like Pygmy caught my eyes.

The creature moved over towards me, her huge halo eyes roving until they spotted me. I held my breath and wondered if, unlike the Giant, once her weapons were out it was over.

"Pygmy." My voice was calm, steady and trembling under the current of my composure.

A once thirty-five foot creature of intimidating stature now storied a surpassing fifty feet.

None of us moved as she lowered down with her eyes on me, her metal incisor limbs had the fresh-edged appearance of a blade right off the grindstone and with one slight move it could slice a clean blow through flesh and blood. I caught sight of myself reflected in its metal and saw what my mother saw, whatever everyone saw; a girl who had gone too far.

How was I better than Kina?

"Taylor." Her large eyes focused on me and the sight that she was still in there eased my hostile nerves. "I here." She said in that simple, accepting voice I cared for. The people who still held me in place by my arms anchored me back as a bottom panel opened now.

"This is your way home." Inx whispered.

V. - Dean.

* * *

A man dressed in a brown leather jacket and suspended slacks walked along with both of his hands in his pockets, admiring the yet unfilled plot where the town's time capsule was to be placed in beside the Iron Giant statue upon his stepson and Taylor's return. An idea occured to Dean then as he stroked his beard, what if the Giant planned to return as well?

To be continued…


	48. Water and Blood: Pt 4 of 4

**I.**** – **Hogarth.

"I've decided." The Giant said as we were just preparing to enter the walls.

I looked up at him, Shanesha and her droid did as well.

He looked over apologetically to them. "This won't take long."

She smiled patiently; it seemed. I didn't really trust women much anymore.

"What is it Giant?" My mind cleared as I focused all my attention on him.

The barn-sized broad-shouldered robot crouched down and offered his palm. I came into it but he didn't raise me up to meet his eyes. Without much sense to it, the two of us took a moment to really look at each other. There was no question that the two of us had never been meant to meet, and circumstances aside we would have been enemies. I, with an old air rifle in hand and him, built to be a weapon. These factors made sense as I'd grown up.

"We need each other." He put plainly.

"Yes." I admitted. "We're a part of each other… literally." Anticipation mounted inside.

The Giant turned definite in his statement. "That's one reason I'm deciding to come back with you." He said with formal obligation. "It wouldn't do either of us good if I didn't...."

At any other time in my life, I would have rashly protested needing help. "You're right."

That's when a wave of realization hit us; we were really going home. He rose all the way.

Shanesha cleared her throat.

"Don't worry. After head-butting a missile into orbit with a ten-year-old's philosophy as an only moral guide, we're up for anything." I turned serious then, "Like getting home."

* * *

And I thought that my decision would surprise him --- but he had mentioned the incident.

"Iron Giant…" Tears misted over Hogarth's eyes as he backhanded them.

"Hogarth Hughes," My white ones felt warmer.

"Thank you." He smiled fully, from corner-to-corner. "Thank you for saving our town."

I rested a finger on his shoulder, my undershot mouth still a bit open. "You're welcome."

Hogarth's smile broadened to his genuine, inspired grin, and he motioned me in with the sweep of his arm. I brought him slowly forward, it looked like he had something behind his back, and he pulled out a sketch from when we were in China's largest landfill while metal browsing. I didn't know what to do as he pressed the sketch flat against my chest and, shamelessly, rested his body across it. Hogarth's face tightened in easy but absolute concentration and I felt my entire hulking frame pull as a blue light grew in between us.

* * *

The hovercraft was his grey-iron material with red and blue overtones that covered all the pure-oxygen boasting jets. I saw the Giant's confused face on the panel, and the sight of a speechless sentry guide up ahead; I demonstrated my creation by saying one simple word.

"Transfigure."

He looked excited as the four evenly spaced boasters rotated around so that two were on the ground, and two were on top of each other at the back. I shook my head in amazement at the accuracy of my first transmutation designed specifically without restrictions. All air channels were open in the shade-shielded helmet and hazmat-racer suit I sported, and the Chopper-like hover motorcycle seemed to adjust well without wheels. The Giant probed:

"How does this one work?" He sounded unsure of my creation; even though _he_ was it.

"Well, that's up to you." I said down, my voice muffled like an aviator in the cockpit. "I won't tell you how to drive yourself, but if you need help I'll just give a voice-activated command you'll respond to." He seemed to slowly grasp it. "It's just like auto-pilot, IG."

"All right." The Giant replied daringly; the boasters gained strength. "Let's do it!"

I nodded certainly and flipped my visor down all the way over my narrowed blue eyes.

"If you are ready." Shanesha said from up ahead as the towering walls spread apart.

"And Giant."

"Yes?" His voice was normal while mine sounded like it was coming from a radio.

"No girl can ever come close to the way I feel for Taylor."

* * *

- Original narrative.

"I'm directing the tubes in the city just as you planned."

"Do they suspect anything, blood-platelet?"

She looked over at the partially updated, partially old-fashioned machine and rider. The past boy held up a thumb at her, it was gloved and wrinkled. Shanesha felt disgust inside.

This young man was a traitor to their kind. But he would learn quickly what the relations between droid and human were really like. They were so naïve, but it wouldn't take long.

"I'm on my way." The droid that she had transmuted with made sure she was strapped in.

* * *

II. – Tress.

I tried to push passed the other people to see what was happening; everyone's tight-suited legs knocked me around as I broke away from my parents and sister. When I got a better view of where Pygmy was at, I saw something I wasn't prepared to see. The others were calling my name but I kept pushing my way over to the dome to try and call out myself.

"Taylor!" I pushed my hands against the glass, frightened I'd never see her or my friends again as she started up a transmuted Pygmy. "Ven, Inx!" my eyes watered up. They were my family and friendsand now I would never seem them again with this chaos going on.

"Tress." A hand rested on my shoulder, it was wrinkled and twisted. The man was acting too calm to be real, but when I looked up a kind old face peered down at me reassuringly.

"Mister?" I rubbed at my eyes.

"It's time you got your chance to be a hero, you and all the Omega children."

* * *

- Taylor.

I looked back over my shoulder, waved slowly at my solemn friends and boarded inside with a lonely, demure smile. _Mother, _my heart ached now as I entered it alone, _Mother… _

The wild noises outside vanished as soon as I entered the oddly well furnished interior, a great number of enmities someone would find in a normal room in the future were there.

Soft padded sitting areas in lavender and violet, a bathing chamber, and even one of the metal liquidizers that I recognized must be attached for the trip we would take. I tried to get to a window but all the rectangular panes of glass were darkened; this was incognito.

"Taylor." A familiar voice said as I sat down tiredly.

"Not now, Hon, just do what they've directed you to do please." I told Pygmy.

"If anyone's going to be called Hon, it's not going to be me."

The soft, quiet female voice belonged to another evacuee.

* * *

- Hogarth and the Giant.

The city was in a word, incredible. As we skimmed around on quiet, but still fast revving cushions of air I took in an enormous layout of neon-layered buildings of many different but foreign lettering and messages. Giant, yellow-gold M's and car reflectors made up a great many source of light. I lifted the visor up on my head and saw people who'd gotten dressed in rather tattered clothing. The droids that walked next to them appeared dinged up to a point, but walked right beside their human counterparts on old cement sidewalks.

"Hogarth," The Giant's own blue image commented, "They're…"

"I know, they're walking around as if they're-." But my excitement fell short. "Giant?"

"The people look like Tress and Ven did at one time." He said sadly.

"That's what happens sometimes, Giant." I explained with a sigh. "Nations just… don't make it. It wouldn't be right to tamper with their way of life though." I looked up ahead.

Our guide and city sentry were moving around easily on a sheet of low yellow-tinted fuel inside her purple hovercraft, I moved my body with the motions as the Giant made sure we kept an easy, unthreatening pace. Whenever I tried to move his frame just a bit like I would my own motorcycle, he righted himself up and sent me a reminding look that this wasn't suppose to be fun --- to which I rolled my eyes under my visor. But as we seemed to be fast approaching a check point, his face appeared in a small version inside the visor.

"Help me drive this, please." He chastised.

"I am!"

"No, you're trying to impress Shanesha," this was his automatic assumption.

"So I flirt around a little," My attention drew forward. "Giant, who's driving us now?"

His blue-strobe eyes widened and he disappeared, I switched up the place where he had been and saw that nothing but empty light azure sky appraised my eyes. The brightly-lit city was behind us, and our guide was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, the Giant's deep confusion seemed to get the better of him as we fast approached another iron-laden wall.

"Giant, decelerate!"

"What?"

"Decrease acceleration."

He still gave me a puzzled look upon the hover bike panel.

"Slow down!" I practically yelped.

He responded by jerking towards the left and allowing me to pull back on the handle bars to get the upper body to steer belly up, and give us some leeway for a possibly semi-safe crash. But the Giant seemed to compose himself as we glided to a smooth, sideways halt.

"Brilliant." I grumbled as I quickly jumped off before he could revert to his original form from underneath me. But as I found out, my feet wouldn't come undone from being down and strapped in. If the Giant hadn't noticed and plucked me from his shoulder I would've been like the unlucky person with cement shoes…five-hundred million pound robot style.

"Are you all right?" He asked me worriedly. I frowned at his show of over protection.

"I'm fine, pal. And you?"

"I'm just wondering where we are…" The Giant stared out uncertainly into the distance.

The city was far behind us.

"She shook us." I griped angrily. "She completely ditched us!" _Bitch_.

"What will we do?" He looked to me.

I looked over my shoulder to the inner wall of Robocity.

"We just keep going, Giant. We just keep going."

At that moment Trant's miniature Motorix came up to us in its regular form.

"Dear God."

To be continued…


	49. Fire and Iron: Part 1 of 4

**I. **- Eight days until the portal in Rockwell opens: Hogarth.

''''I didn't really know if the woman had left us there by happenstance, or if she had been trying to pull a cruel joke on me and my large robotic friend. Whatever the case was for our abandonment, I now waited around by the large iron-clad metal gate to see if she'd return while the Giant went off to try and find help. I sat down on a huge balcony arc of the same material; the very still Motorix had been deftly secured by makeshift manacles.

The ones I had worn once which the Giant had kept in the form of hard, tan wax goop.

"If you're hiding in there, Tranty." I muttered, contemplating smoking. "Just come out."

The bud of my cigarette that was still unlit, I only had one water-stained, crumpled pack, dangled loosely on my lips as I saw the welcomed incoming silhouette of the Giant flying in towards me upon the mid-day horizon. I gave a wide smile as I hid it in my dry mouth.

"Everything all right?" He eyed me at every angle, setting different scraps of metal aside.

"Fine, Mama Giant." I joked wryly, working the stick around so it wouldn't bulge.

The robot eyed me patiently but unhappily. "No one knew enough to help us."

I ignored the pang of guilt. "We're going to have to get over that gate." As he agreed, my eyes wandered over to what he had gathered in a neat but still stringy metal pile; one big and one medium-sized metal container made me frown slightly. "Going AWOL are we?"

"Humor me," He beseeched, freeing the Motorix from its binds and handing him one.

The creature instinctively opened its Giant cloned mouth and allowed the silver-syrup in.

"We can't just let him starve." This was the statement that came from it's better original.

I spat out my cigarette as he sat down with a heavy thud. "Sure you didn't see Trant?"

"Sure you don't want something to eat?" The Giant fingered down a small container.

Smiling limply, because I always had to be a wisecracker, I received it and the tokens.

"I didn't see many people." He admitted glumly, chomping down on a much rusted truck.

"You did your best, pal." I sighed roughly, taking out a hamburger. "So this is from…?"

The Giant livened up as he reached behind him and held out a lit yellow neon 'M' on a stick. With black rain clouds lingering on the other side of the walls, I was kind of taken with the eerie cast the plastic initial emitted. Electricity was obsolete in 2201, except in the electrode gun I had carried once, so it would have to be solar charged.

"I'm not sure," I wiggled the mushy glop in the buns. "But I don't think this is meat."

He shuttered his eyes thoughtfully closed. "But it's supposed to taste like meat."

I sighed. "Okay fine!" I announced with a grin. "We'll endure the repulsion together."

"That way you can actually transmute me so we can get in." The Giant said seriously.

"Yeah, it looks like that storms moving in fast. We just need to concentrate on survival."

As we both lifted our respective edible items up to our mouths, we paused. Then began again, and paused. For no apparent reason we just kept doing it back and forth together.

My eyes narrowed. "Just for the fun of it…"

He nodded, intrigued.

"If I manage to eat all of mine first, you give me full access to the hover bike."

"Hogarth." The Giant said with dismissive amusement.

"Hey, you may be able to pack it away pal." I twirled a fry around. "But I eat less."

"Well," He handed a hip. "_When _I win I'm going to become the IG double H and we're going to get over this wall very cautiously." The Giant then picked up a big sheet of tin.

"Ready?" I positioned the overflowing mass of soy-hidden goodness.

He narrowed his eyes challengingly. "Ready."

The moments passed in a blur. As I squashed the bland-tasting tofu into my mouth, I saw the Giant was effortlessly tossing pieces of metal into his over-sized gullet. My stomach began to ache as I choked down several more bites, crammed in my fries and chased the whole thing down with a big gulp of sweet-tasting water from a metallic capped canister.

But before either one of us could declare a winner, the Motorix started moving forward.

"Wait…" I put a hand up to stop the Giant before he could shield me with his larger one.

"Hogarth?" He questioned me.

"What is it?" I asked the black-silvery machine carefully; noting the Giant shone like it.

"I don't think it's going to answer…"

A feeling of extreme discomfort plagued me. "Giant."

I felt the rush of memories from first seeing him again; his black-streaked old iron dimly lit up under the haze of his white lantern eyes, his reaction to first seeing Taylor. A haze enveloped my eyes as I looked up at the Giant, and than I gazed down to look at myself.

We had sold out --- terribly. I had completely given into their lifestyle, clothes and all.

"I'm sorry…" I instantly began crying hard, tearless sobs; furious that I was again having a break down in front of him and so I spilled all of it out into violent, repetitive apologies.

"Hogarth…" The Giant tried desperately to keep me from loosing it. "I reformed too, its-"

As the sky began darkening overhead, an image of Trant in full-suited blue came out in a hologram. My first instinct was to reach out and smack him clear across his mouth for all of the hell he had put me and my family through, but the clear focus in his eyes made me hold a center with them and the utterly overwhelming discipline held both our attentions.

"Gentlemen, when we first met that night we were all very young. What becomes of my fate should not concern either one of you; my well being is not the issue here. It seems all is unfolding as it should, I have betrayed my people and so I am dealt that very same fate.

But the remarkable commitment of your friendships gives me a hope. I will warn the two of you now; you will be cheated and deceived many times in Robocity. There exist those who work on the outside for The Reapers inside. You're only chance Hogarth," his eyes focused right into mine, and then skywards, "and Giant, is to use that weapon in appeal."

"He means… we have to try and persuade the head of this operation to send us home."

My words were clean and precise as the miniature Motorix came up and opened his body up right in front of me. It was like he was beckoning to step into an Egyptian casket and entrust another machine other then the Giant with my life. I could have gotten angrier, I should have gone ballistic, but I wouldn't solve anything. We turned back to the picture.

"If anyone but the top droids sees you, Hogarth, well, beforewarned. They are reasoning if you present a reasonable case." His expression softened. "So be very careful... Good luck."

Before I could even react, the Giant picked up the Motorix, squared his shutters into one of his rare path-of-most resistance glares and raising his titanic arm far back over the big gray crest of his head, chucked the gleaming silver and black miniature machine out into the distance where it was engulfed in the last few stretches of blue as the sky blackened.

The Giant looked down at me winningly as if he had just scored a touch down, hand out.

"No one will stand between us and going home anymore." He said to me.

I nodded surely and stepped up into his palm. "Right. We're going to walk in there…"

"… And get through this together." The Giant finished.

As I secured the suit over myself, we met eyes and silently decided against transmutation. We were two separate beings and we were a lot more useful together then we were a part. When I raised the visor to stick the cigarette into my mouth, the Giant curved his head down.

His shutters curved in dishearteningly. "Hogarth…"

"Giant, stop." I said irritably, tucked the oxygen tubes plugged into my nose behind both of my ears and lit it. The smoke instantly caught in my lungs, and I clutched at my throat.

Fighting against another barrage of tears, I coughed the smoke up at the depleted sky.

"Hogarth, _please_," The Giant insisted firmly. "They're only hurting you."

I wrinkled my forehead in thought, squeezed the packet and lighter I had stolen back the first time the Giant had taken the box away, and placed it squarely into his open fingers.

"One question," I lifted a brow, "Did you smash my cigarette bud in all that time ago?"

The Giant gave me a confused look.

"Back in the park, remember?"

He blinked once and then lifted his lower shutters.

* * *

**II. ****– **Taylor.

''''I barely had gotten over being hugged by Trina as she immediately went to work, taking a plunge right into the foreign language of prenatal care and how she was wholly worried that I wasn't experiencing normal side effects; but I couldn't keep from asking her things.

"How did you get here? Are you coming back with me? Is my mother---?"

The look she gave me hushed me up. "This is _serious_, Taylor."

"I know." I quivered in a low voice, clutching my stomach. "I'm a mess."

"You're my sister." Trina reiterated, resting a soothing hand on my shoulder.

"Okay," I gathered myself, sitting up on the bed-padded window siding and smiling a bit in spite of myself. "So this is all right. We'll go to Rockwell and meet up with everyone."

"In eight days." She said absentmindedly, rummaging around. Trina then paused as I just went on and on about how positive everything would turn out. "Taylor!" she snapped out at me suddenly. This shocked me into silence. "Could, could you just listen to the facts?"

"Yes," I whispered dully.

"Taylor, this is our last chance," Trina strode up to me with an urgent look playing in her eyes, "Listen to me, won't you? They are giving me one last chance to keep my working statuses I have been instructed through since birth, and you have one chance to go home."

I sat up and kept her eyes sober. "What are the conditions?"

"It was something they were going to test the Giant with." She said with her back turned.

"Trina." I stood up and walked over surely with my belly sticking out. "Be honest."

When she turned to me I wished she would turn back around immediately.

There was pain that strained across her face. "Your memories." She pointed up at a very guileless image of a yellow-strobe Pygmy. "And the Giant's _clones_ deactivation. Inx told you that the Giant wasn't returning with you, he was right. The baby will…" she breathed in through her teeth. "…It is to be taken from you one week before Hogarth and you go."

I couldn't move, I couldn't even think to breathe straight.

"Your mother and Daniel Barnes are returning on a separate transmuted droid," Trina had this suddenly very annoying way of speaking, too professional. "Use your time wisely…"

"… You're going to deactivate Pygmy?" I said blankly.

"Let's just hope your _boys _are using their time well." She said, almost bitterly, and turned away from me to begin setting things up for my baby's care. I walked over and lay down.

"Taylor?" The gentle concern in Pygmy's childlike voice made the tears instantly appear, as well as an ironclad determination to do whatever it took to save my family. I stood up.

"Trina." I grabbed her shoulders like I had her cousin once and thrust her smaller frame against the wall, amazed about how strong I'd become despite my petite physique. "You aren't going to do this to us," my voice became angrier, shriller. "_I won't let you do this_!"

"Taylor." Pygmy asked, scared.

The atmosphere grew thicker as I had an insane instinct to smack the older lady harshly.

"For Pygmy…" Trina said calmly, "for your health and the baby's. Let me go."

I did, but not without keeping myself close by so she couldn't do anything to my girls.

They were my daughters.

To be continued…


	50. Fire and Iron: Part 2 of 4

**A/N: **If you want someone to feel loved, show it to their faces.

**I.** Hogarth.

* * *

The sky was dark. Plumes of gray tinted with blue rose over the second wall of the inner robotic sanctum in a place known as Robocity Japan, the Giant shifted his head from one side to the other trying to find a decent, clear entrance --- there wasn't one. He sent me a look to make sure that my body gear was in place before he gently ascended the very top brim of the wall. The clouds that parted turned out not to be clouds at all, but deep smoke.

We just stood adrift in mid-lack-of-air. There were streams of what appeared to be a thick and heavy concentration of black gas that hung in the infected sky, as I focused on all of it harder I saw that it was smog. My heart flew up into my throat as a mist from outer and inner sources broke the walls that I had rebuilt and clouded treacherously in my blue eyes.

Everything looked gray and barren on the ground; sludge covered everything and dripped down into large streams of gushing goop that made my healthy soy sandwiches look like a feast. The Giant kept at a smooth angle down into the long streams of clutter and junk. But this wasn't like our explore-worthy landfill safely quarantined away from the people.

"I've never seen such a mess." I commented to my friend. He remained silent in thought.

The regret I felt for tampering with the cigarettes was intense as my eyes rose to see that creatures were swarming around the canopy of black smoke. These things looked just like bizarre dots darting around the air. The Giant and I watched, entranced, their bodies were bright red and black organisms like that of dart frogs that swarmed around in streams of intimidating firework seekers. He raised one iron hand and swatted them all away as they seemed to circle around me lion-pride-style --- but what they wanted was still a mystery.

"What are they?" The Giant asked irritably, wanting to rationalize this.

"Don't know. But they probably formed from all this pollution."

It was like a vast sea of carbon and nitrogen. We started to get panic-stricken that there was nothing else around us when an even more terrible sight lay not far away. I quickly came to realize that the inhabitance of what could be called upper-city Robocity was not at all what we had thought. The humans and robots had not been equals; not even close.

Trant had been trying to protect us after all: The human populations were slaves.

* * *

**II. – **Trina and Taylor.

My heart was hurting. The way Taylor lay there tracing her stomach in circles, and then tracing Pygmy's resting hand along it. I fought back tears in my eyes as I administered a third dose of medicine to try and settle the fast-growing baby in her stomach. If only she could understand the relevance she meant to the entire world; Taylor had potential in her life outside of condemning herself to motherhood. It was all out of her guilt for Hogarth.

The young man had potential too, as well as the enormous iron robot they held somewhat realistic attachments too. As it were, the rest of the world either held a deeply delusional fascination for the self-sacrificing robot and his brave metal loving companion or a hard resentment at their unnatural friendship. I glanced over at _my_ dear friend, inhaled deeply and started over to her. She looked to me with a commitment that I did not want to see.

"I'm not going home."

"Taylor-."

"I won't let you deactivate Pygmy." The girl rested her hand atop the metal robots.

"You would give away _your_ future for a potentially life-threatening child and this droid?"

"You can't feel them the way I can," Taylor explained to me, "If I ever hurt them…" she became distraught as she laced Pygmy's hand in hers, "They're part of me, Trina. You do know I'd take any consequence for them, please." The tears in her eyes made me turn to my droid. It was performing its usual tasks; it had never uttered a word that was its own.

"So you're saying it's never going to stop," I whispered, "The war of man and machine is unsolvable so long as there are only a few who are willing to count droids as our equals."

"What do you mean?" She asked me, sounding fearful.

"I mean," I turned to her with anger blazing in my eyes. "I have helped you from day one and given my entire life over to helping you!" Taylor started to protest. "You're going… you're going to go through with this Taylor. This time you're going to follow our rules."

"And harm Pygmy?" She clutched her arms around the metal limb.

"To save you!" I blurted out.

"Trina, please…"

"No, Taylor." I walked over and placed a very miniscule blue capsule in the IV unit glove covering her left hand; the medicine entered through way of fingernail. "I'll make it easy on you. I...I'll put you to sleep for the duration of the flight, deliver the baby safely and-."

A metal hand closed over my arm.

"Pygmy!" I was surprised by how strict and maternal my voice sounded. She was looking frustrated over at Trina and restraining her back from doing anything. "Release her now."

The looks I received from both Trina and her were shocked; I had not spoken like that to her. She quickly got the message and released her hold. It reminded me than that she was still a very powerful entity and I had to discipline her to make sure that accidents like the one with the podium didn't occur. I gently stroked her yellow-tubular image and sighed.

"Hon, this is something for me and Trina to deal with. You stay out of it for me, please."

"Okay, Taylor." She said quietly.

I turned with hurt eyes to Trina. "Is there any more proof you need? Pygmy is a creature with emotions and thoughts just like you and me." My eyes fell to the capsule between her fingers; it was the size of a piece of lint. "If you put that in there, I'll rip my IV out."

"What are we to do?" She asked me fumingly. "I could abandon everything I worked for; I could go into total exile. But they would find me. They have a transmuted droid not far behind us and if we tried to flee from them, they'd capture us long before we'd react…"

I rubbed my chin, trying not to smile as Pygmy mirrored me. "What's the last thing that they would expect?" when Trina mentioned put up a fight the smile was stretching then.

**III. – **The Giant/ Hogarth

What we saw before us made me wonder if we would ever be happy again, or if either of us would even completely recover. Hogarth motioned for me to set him down as we both walked through the morbid surroundings. From my height it was like watching tiny stone creatures vacantly moving around a grey garden, I had to glance over at Hogarth to make sure that we were still walking among the living. He didn't say anything, but kept going.

From out in the distance, rows upon rows of ramshackle metal homes spotted the starved ground. My feet trudged upon this terrain, leaving deep, mud-crater-making impressions every time I walked. The scene worsened as I stopped to stare at something unbelievable.

I grimaced and looked down at Hogarth.

"Just keep going, Giant." He prodded me.

"But-."

The look he sent me was unreadable from beneath his visor; I grinded my teeth together and clenched my fists. This wasn't right! This wasn't fair! A faint image of just what the world had once been for me lingered in an attempt to comfort at the back of my mind, but I shook my head and let the relief fall away. It wasn't any use, just knowing Hogarth was here had to be enough. Shakily, I glanced one last time over at all the grey-faced people.

"Giant."

Anger replaced my sadness.

"We have to do something." I whirled on him.

* * *

At the abrupt force of his voice I stepped back; the realization of how upset he was made me approach him quickly. He was starting to break down. "Giant," I placed my hand on his ankle, the deep disruption in his eyes worried me further, "It's okay, pal. Let's just…"

He narrowed his shutters together and poised his hand down very firmly --- my calm talk wasn't excusable this time. I quietly boarded and he rose me up to stand on his shoulder. But I realized then that he didn't want me just to see what was going on, he wanted me to be as close to him as humanly possible. Burning with curiosity, I raised the visor up just before the vapors of the smog from above could filter through to my eyes. The sight was terrible. I felt cemented into his shoulder as I watched the scene that unfolded before me.

There were people running through crumbling buildings, trying to dig through the sludge as a sight of crusty, rust-paneled droids moved in threatening strides to keep them all at a fast pace. My first instinct was to tell the Giant to stop them, they were people, _suffering_.

"It wouldn't work," he reminded me in a distant, disconnected voice.

"No, it wouldn't. And it isn't our place to stop them." I hated those words.

We kept at our slow, solid pace without saying much. I didn't know how much time went by as my surroundings were engulfed in ebony-shielded closure. I felt the waviness from the Iron Giant's massive feet as they pounded up dizzily around a binding rise, and than I was safely on the ground beside a hill of muck-melting garbage. That's how adjusting to the transition I was by now. With my breath caught, I flicked up the shade and practically had to suck in air for my lungs. The fact that I was asthma ridden right there stunned me.

"Giant," I spoke in a single, stifled whisper, "What are we going to do?"

When I turned to him, the confused and agonized look in his eyes made me hurry then in great concern. I walked briskly over to him and stopped as the Giant slowly met my gaze. He was no longer the one to be targeted or stigmatized, in this world; I was without rights.

More importantly, my self-loathing over the missile incident and my feeling unworthy in comparison to my friend made me feel ashamed. "I was wrong." I said with a firm shake of my head. "That night in China's scrap yard… Giant," the reality was almost too much.

He shook his head dismissively, passed my insecurities. "With the whales... you told me something." I watched as he bent down slowly, curiously, "What did you tell me then?"

I walked up to him until I was directly under his heavy white eyes, peering down on me, probing, through the sky of false night. "No matter how bad things get, good is always going to triumph in the end." When the Giant repeated His name surely I smiled at him.

But he didn't.

Mine vanished as he stared up straight along the height of the two-hundred foot high wall.

"You would think Archer and the Council would have mentioned this." I mumbled.

The Giant was silent.

"I care about you, IG." My voice hovered on a quiver. "What's going on in your head?"

He looked down at me from his mediation, knelt and held my eyes with a look I was not familiar at all with. "You always defend me, Hogarth; allow me to defend you this time."

I argued automatically, "But you-." I froze, considered my words. "I always fight you."

"Let me help you." The Giant offered gently, cupping his hand around where his heart should be. "_Let_ me protect you. For once," he pleaded quietly. "Don't force me on this."

I couldn't argue with him.

"All right," I said softly, surrendering my smart-ass pride for his and my sakes.

It was hard, but the love I had for my best friend outweighed everything else.

_Love_. That was one word need not be said between the two of us.

* * *

**IV. – **Taylor.

I realized as I grasped both of Pygmy's controls and steered her huge sphere body around in mid-hover I was facing her losing her innocence. This would not be encouraging of peace; this would not be a good lesson for her to learn but if I was to keep my new family… and keep us alive… I had to do what was necessary. Pygmy would learn the truth either way.

"Don't think any less of me, okay?" I whispered down to her confused-strobe face.

"Taylor… what wrong?"

"Everything's going to turn out fine," my voice caught, "I'm sorry for all of this."

When I turned around I saw something that made the hair stand up on my arms, there was not just one transmuted droid but what could have been hundreds. My lower lip quivered and I turned for an explanation to Trina. She looked at me sadly, but with firm acceptance.

"Taylor," she breathed heavily, "When they caught me, the droid operators --- they forced me to either join them or be eradicated." I backed away from her, stunned and speechless.

"Inx… Archer… my_ mother!_"

"Are still on your side."

"You bitch," I vocalized. "You were going to hand-deliver us over to enslaving droids!"

"I'm not a bad person, Taylor." Trina sighed. "I just picked my allegiance more carefully. You've chosen a life of droid-loving, so you're going to have to face the consequences."

I ran at her, screaming, but a wall instantly interposed us. Pygmy moved the seat forward and I took that as her urging me to sit down. A buckle gently guided its way over to strap me in, and the controls fell automatically to my hands. She looked at me intently to move.

"Trina not hurt us. I help you."

The sound of a quiet whirring entered my ears and I watched with betrayal and disgust as she fled away inside her green droid. I did not hate Trina, I knew she did care about us in her own way but I should have seen the signs of her being fair weather. I decided I wasn't.

And looking down at Pygmy's determined face, seeing her father in it and smiling grimly that she had taken after him, I knew she wasn't either. We both braced ourselves for this.

Original narrative next chapter.

* * *

Dean walked around the piles of towering garbage, marking things off as he took inventory on his large lot. Julianne and a few of her classmates played a puzzle on the back porch as the bright blue sky began to darken overheard. Concerned, Dean started to walked toward the direction of his daughter and her friends when he saw a large rift of purple from above.

A streak of fear entered him as he looked down at his wristwatch --- the hands were frozen.

To be continued...


	51. Fire and Iron: Part 3 of 4

'.' The will to rise; alone; proves purity. And once freed, it takes possession of the Soul

And Wills the Soul to change company. '.' – The Divine Comedy.

**I. **

She was in a no droids-land. Taylor watched from her place in the cockpit, scanning over thousands of transmuted bots waiting to swarm her and Pygmy to destroy them both. She realized that because of her final decision to wholly accept a robot as her equal, even as her friends still cared for her, Taylor was now a far gone liability. She was disposable to them even as she felt that they were the ones who were presenting themselves as a target for _them_ to take out. Taylor felt the heart-sickening tantalization as her mother and every one of her friends were testing her to make a move; she wouldn't give in so they waited.

* * *

Taylor turned her listless hazel eyes to her mother. "Mother… Don't make me do this."

Trisha had a hard face on, her lips pressed together with a dreadful, undeterred devotion to see her daughter pulled from this wreckage of a world. She was no longer going to listen.

Taking a hard, shaking breath, Taylor turned to Pygmy. There were whirring noises that came from outside, ready to trap and restrain the both of them. Taylor kept staring right into Pygmy's eyes and took another halting breath before giving a final command to her:

"Stop them."

She felt fury course through her.

"Taylor-."

"_Now_."

The woman shut her eyes against a wave of tears.

Outside the troops of droids were ready to bind down the large robotic menace.

* * *

The Reapers watched with heavy concentration, enraptured that they were finally going to ascertain all their subjects. The clones of the Iron Giant were picking themselves off and, with their programming, would single out only the top selections, while that was all happening the human-bonded Pygmy clone would eliminate all other advanced robotic entities who served the humans. The trio looked at each other, pleased with themselves.

* * *

**II.**

A rumbling sigh could be heard from the Iron Giant as he had successfully bypassed the towering wall aerially and, with Hogarth safely and devoid of argument within his metal hands, made a careful landing in front of a mountainous-shaped iron-appearing doorway.

He narrowed his shutters together. This had been too easy.

"Frankly, I'm disappointed." Hogarth commented as the Giant uncovered him, placing the young man atop his shoulder. "No guards? No three test passage? What a downer."

"Let's just be thankful we made it this far with no complications," the Giant cleared up any more misjudgments they were bound to make. "But you're right, it's been too easy."

"This entire process has been too easy, _accessible_," Hogarth mused, "They're waiting."

The automaton settled his worried ivory eyes on his friend. "You may be too accessible."

"So what?" Hogarth said defensively. "You want me to hide from the big bad bots?"

Purposely taking his sarcasm seriously, the Giant held up the jet flame on his heel and let it rotate open and closed. Hogarth crossed his arms and peered away, not liking this one bit. The night they discussed the missile incident seemed to rise with the unrelenting, awfully displacing wall again --- it disappointed the Giant painfully that they were distanced now.

Hogarth clenched his teeth together and dug his nails into his arms.

"I just don't want you getting hurt if I can't protect you, we don't know their strength."

"The ultimate droid in the world, Giant… _hello_." the man said, "It wouldn't matter."

There was a heavy silence.

"You're still angry, aren't you?"

Surprised, Hogarth looked at him. "Wh-_what_?"

The Giant spoke in his deep voice, "You're still angry with me for leaving you."

A falsely tight-laced smile spread over Hogarth's face. "I'm supposed to answer that."

Yet even as the hurt settled into his heart, Hogarth forced his eyes to remain connected.

"You'll always be angry with me, won't you?" The Giant said resignedly.

"Yeah," Hogarth admitted with a heavy sigh, "I'm sorry…" he looked down. "It isn't something you wanted me to feel. It's just…" Hogarth looked at the door. "It's just not important right now, what's important is that we get in there and help those people out."

"_You_ are the most important thing to me, Hogarth."

"Giant, those people…"

"We can't go on unless we're together on this." He clarified to Hogarth, his solid metal face more hard-over then ever before, "I won't move, until we're both together on this."

"We are," Hogarth told him; he wanted them to be more then anything. "We are…"

His words meant to sound sincere and certain rang unsettled and insecure.

The huge gate suddenly squealed open noisily and they both turned to face a squadron of paint-chipped, rust-covered droids marching forth towards them. Hogarth made up a quick composure and motioned for the Giant to set him down; then walked right in side-by-side.

Any further discussion was no long convenient.

**III.**

Taylor braced herself as she was concealed within a thick iron cocoon of protection, tiny prickling sensations around her temples frightened her slightly as she closed her eyes and different images of insects floated into her focal point of consciousness. They revealed to her a spider: the creature's long, exquisite legs began to sew the creatures in a meditative, mesmeric fashion. Taylor felt herself feel faint and sleepy, peaceful almost, to all of this.

She wavered in and out of a full knowledge of what was happening, entirely adrift from the loud commotion outside. The drugged effect began to lift somewhat on her softened fuzz of reality, allowing Taylor to return to her ordeal relaxed and without much anxiety.

"What happened…?"

Once the shield containing her opened and she was allowed a view out into the world; the young woman felt herself reel in disbelief. The droids, all once shaped and conformed to different styles of crafts and saucers were now contorted in slick, silver bands of cocoon prisons. Taylor balked away but couldn't free herself from the binds that held her down.

"Pygmy!" She yelped, squirming and thrashing against them. "What've you done!?"

But when her face appeared, Taylor saw that the droid was not in control of her body.

"Can't stop." Pygmy pouted. "Make me stop, can't… Taylor." She was scared.

"All right, all right," Taylor took a shaking breath and grasped the controls before her but they only remained hard and stiff. "The Reapers…the ones behind this, they're to blame."

They looked at each other.

"What we do?" Pygmy asked, voice warbled.

Taylor looked grimly out onto the horizon as swarms that resembled shiny smog were at work with devouring the cocoon --- she couldn't move or breathe as she witnessed all of the completely mindless nanobots covering the droids that Trina and her mother were in.

These smaller, lesser machines were being dined upon, and that meant that the humans…

"… Wake me up later, Pygmy," Taylor said, numbly, straining to look at the ceiling.

"Later?" Pygmy repeated quietly.

"Much, much later." She said in a choking voice and closed her watery light brown eyes.

**IIIV.**

"So," Hogarth said flatly, examining the tall, lanky machines before them. "You three are the large, in charge bots around here? Interesting, I thought _his _descents would be taller."

He could almost feel the glare bearing down on the back of his neck from the Giant.

The scarlet-eyed, olive-covered leader sent him a lofty look. "A servant that speaks?"

Hogarth rolled up the sleeves of his red-blue uniform, flexing his arms. "Loud and clear."

There was a small poke on his biceps and the young man sent his iron friend a narrowed eyed look; he didn't need reminding that there was evident flab present. The Giant held a deeper meaning in his mindful gaze and Hogarth turned seriously to the overhead robots.

"Why are you here?" The third one's voice dripped with menace; Hogarth actually took a step back at the brown-rusted, ashen-covered black droid with paneled ears and drilling red optics that served as eyes. The Giant, however, didn't move any of his metal muscles.

"We're here because of the filth-ridden conditions you've left those human beings in."

Hogarth raised a brow at the Giant's formal eloquence in speaking --- not because he was able to say things like 'filth-ridden' so calmly but for the simple fact that he was so calm.

"The humans?" The green one inquired.

"Yes." Hogarth said tersely, keeping his emotions well-tempered for the moment.

"Their squalor conditions are their own doing, we merely took control of the situation."

"By making them into animals!?" Hogarth snarled openly at the green robotic king.

"They have themselves to blame for the way this world is: who cares for them any way?"

There was a deep, low exhale of air and in one swoosh of his fire-ocean octagon-round arm, the Giant resoundingly rammed his hand down before the final one: a now scared yellow droid with his school-bus-colored coat peeling in strips of gray with pale, tangerine eyes.

"**_I_** care," the Giant roared in a fierce, huffed voice: they all shrank away. "That's who."

"And if my pal here cares," Hogarth calmly got on the undercoated iron fist, "you should."

To be continued…


	52. Fire and Iron: Part 4 of 4

**I.** January 3rd. -------------------- Rockwell.

People gathered together from the ground below to look up at the expanding purple that smeared across the horizon, like the sky was bruising from a nebula that was stretching in an odd, murky shade. Gordon Rhinestien pressed his arm tighter around Julianne McCoppin, who had all but become impassive and unmotivated even at the various attempts from all that only wished her better. She squeezed his large arm and looked upon her dressed lap.

"So what now?"

"We wait for your daddy to get here," The man replied. _Sure wish I knew where mine was._

"Gordon," One of the agents from the beginning, Taylor's uncle, approached him around from the back and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I believe you should take young Miss McCoppin home early. It's going to be quite a long week ahead for the both of you sir."

His large face worked into a scowl. "Say what?"

Robert unplugged a device from his ears and then into Gordon's; the younger man's eyes widened as he heard the repeat of his earlier thought. "Your knowledge of this great level of technology won't be long," He eyed an intrigued Julie sadly, "Among other things…"

"How long, chief?" Gordon asked critically, not compromising whatever time they had.

"A week, barely over that minimum." Robert informed him. "Make the moments count."

**II. **January 4th --------------------- Robocity.

"You are quite an unusual creature for your species," The green lead said to Hogarth; his eyes brimmed with knowledge and age that eluded both Hogarth and the Giant; who drew back at this surprisingly observant response, "A paragon choice of the common human."

Hogarth looked at him, taken aback.

"Would you like to repeat that?" He asked guardedly.

The Giant didn't act any further, but kept a strong, solid stance over his friend.

"You are the first human to initiate transmutation with our kind, you have survived great ordeals that should have killed you and you have fully embraced a droid --- the very one who is broad casted to be your enemy --- as a friend." The black one said, Hogarth could not help but to cringe as he casually folded a leg. "Yet, judging by your last showing…"

The blackened robot clapped his smoky-rusted, three-fingered hands and a 3-dimensional image appeared to their right. Hogarth could feel the Giant bearing over him --- his hand poised to ward off. _Let me help you, _the words came, _Just for once, don't fight me on this. _

Hogarth strained not to roll his eyes, even as he felt his heart beat with an ache to let him.

"… You have openly stated your feelings towards humans and droids, which results in all of us," the black droid swept his hand towards the others, "developing an interest in you."

"You can have an interest in me all you want." Hogarth didn't move an inch from where the Giant's hand was in a quasi-grasp of protecting him, "that doesn't mean you can treat those people the way you do," he said gruffly, "They're _human beings_! They need better food, water, housing, but it's obvious!" he marched forward. "You're soulless machines."

Hogarth felt himself reel back on that.

_"You're made of metal… you're good… that means you have a soul."_

He struck his face into his hand.

"As we said," The middling olive one convened, "You have compassion for our kind."

"Giant…" Hogarth turned.

"Let's try reasoning with them." It was obvious the robot was hurt, but he insisted further.

The next hour or so and The Reapers, Hogarth and the Giant were fully immersed into a bizarrely civilized conversation and moral debate. Where Hogarth and the Giant would emerge defense at times to protect each other, the three robot overlords remained calm. But after the minutes rolled by, the flattery Hogarth wasn't used to hearing took affect.

"Well," He wrung his arms back over his head, mellowed, "next to IG here of course, I am considered something of an Adonis back home." The Giant reacted to this, stunned.

"_Hogarth_---,"

"Giant, we're discussing the peoples' freedoms," He argued quickly, "or we were…?"

When Hogarth eyed them squarely, they were still clearly beating around the bush with their stolid admiration and observation of the seventeen-year-old. The yellow one finally gained some courage, and stood up to seemingly get to the gist of the matter with them.

"You wish to return to your own time, correct?"

"Not until we help those people." Hogarth said firmly, sticking his finger out crucially.

The ebony droid and the Giant met eyes, exasperated but wanting a solution worked out.

Willingly, the green one leaned forward. "What is it that we miss in our humans?" when he said _our _the Giant openly cringed as Hogarth had. The only reason he and Hogarth did not argue more aggressively over this was because they didn't want to appear prejudiced.

The way they talked, the people here were taken care of but their status was below par. It took a lot for them to be silent, but now that the floor was open Hogarth approached them before the Giant could react protectively; He bent, mid-hand-out, and then drew it back in.

"It's all right," Hogarth said to him calmly.

He only sighed.

Hogarth continued:

"Now, not to say you guys are the worse human slave owners ever, but you metal heads don't know the first thing about us," He raised an arm, "Number one, my robot fiends…"

"…Hogarth..." The Giant argued uncertainly. "We really shouldn't discuss this."

"Giant, feel free to reaffirm anything I miss to these guys. Gentle bolts, humans are what we back in a 1960's biology class like to call mammalians. In other words, we're gross."

A sound of disbelief could be heard from behind and above him. _What was he doing?_

"What was that?" The green one strained to listen.

"Humans have needs you robots can't even begin to meet. You've already said you were made to assist them… that worked out splendidly," Hogarth kept his cool about the utter abominable conditions they had seen, "to further demonstrate look at my lubricating pit."

They pressed forward to examine; the Giant squared his shutters at the triviality.

"You see, this is called sweat, which needs deodorant. Do you guys have that?"

The droids looked at each other uncertainly.

"Oh, but humans have many other great qualities!" Hogarth argued before anyone could say anything. "We can lubricate between our legs, we can make wonderful bile spew out of mouths," they all stared as he mock-demonstrated, "we can scratch ourselves, contract deadly diseases, we can fart, burp, sneeze and even insert our digits into hidden sockets."

He sensed the Giant's shock as he unleashed a full-scale of very disgusting habits --- to give the droids a full gist of what _their _humans didn't do right, Hogarth began to casually pick his nose, he then moved on to twisting his ears with his pinkie fingers, before finally prodding his middle finger into his slightly moving belly button. Before they had even a chance to ask him to stop, Hogarth fervently moved on to the three stages of the loogie: these were the air spit, the regular and then the final. It was like he was back with Tress.

"_Hogarth_." The Giant said sternly, sliding a slightly rumbling foot forward.

This made him slump, moaning, "In conclusion you're ill-equipped," he said tonelessly.

The Giant stepped back a little; tilting his head at his friend's deflated response.

"What would you suggest?" The green droid asked.

"We were told you have a teleporter." Hogarth continued. "The last existing one."

From the left, the second in command black droid leaned down with a glint to his strobe-red eyes, "We could not simply relinquish them and retain our three-hundred-year dignity reign. You should know, young ones; that our kingdom would find it all very appalling."

"All right." Hogarth said stoutly, sticking out his chest. "They oppose me and think the Giant rules the roost, right? I mean… they favor him over me?" the black droid nodded.

"What are you saying, Hogarth?"

"Well," He turned to his towering friend with a slight smirk, "It's obvious I'm going to be outmatched the moment it's announced. Here's my proposal," he became serious, "I saw that sort of Colosseum coming in. If the Giant and I were to pretend to have a sort of _final match_ with one another, I got over-cocky and he made it seem like I vanished into-."

He was gone.

The Giant had swept him into his hands and was staring at him with a panicked look in his eyes. "Hogarth, what are you doing? You're putting your life at risk here!?" He gave his arms a firm jolt to emphasize his point. "We can't be foolish like this, think clearly."

"I am," Hogarth spoke calmly and deliberately, "Giant," his eyes clouded up, his voice thickened, "We can't just _force _these people to save themselves, we have to give them a convincing enough act and then get them out of here." He rubbed at his reddening pupils.

"I can't let anything happen to you." The Giant said with pain in his voice.

"Remember the restaurant thing?" Hogarth encouraged hopefully. "Giant, we made an impact back there. We have to scare these people, wake them all up to this crazy world."

"You believe they can change?" The yellow droid asked, surprised. "They're teachable?"

"If we show them something hard core enough," Hogarth turned to him firmly, and then back to the Giant. "It'll be a fake fight, pal. I'll throw in a few insults; act like none of it is a very big deal…" They both turned to give the three droids hard, unwavering stares.

"We understand your need to keep order," the Giant said in his calm, deep toned voice, "But you need to consider what's best for them… and we won't leave until you do…"

"And that means going back to Iceland." Hogarth added.

"Hmm?"

"Think about it. Those people need help, we need to get them there…"

The Giant gasped heavily. "But, Hogarth!" he was breathless.

"Helping those people is more important than your return to own time?" The green droid stated in his articulated voice, honestly surprised, "Why, we shall have this in the morn!"

"You might never see your family again," the Giant warned solemnly. "Julie, Dean…"

"It's worth it to save these people." Hogarth said, taking a stilted breath.

"Give them a show," The black droid mused.

"A spectacle to liven up these dull plains!" The yellow droid agreed heartily.

"Yeah." Hogarth nodded but he felt the distance mounting between him and the Giant.

"In the morning then." The green droid delightfully concluded and summoned the guards from earlier towards them. "You will have the use of all we have to offer here, made only for humans of course, and if you succeed we shall allow them to move to a safe location."

"Just to be convincing enough?" Hogarth questioned.

"We are very intrigued to see this. Imagine; a human willing to give selflessly to others."

"Right," Hogarth took a deep breath at that.

The guard droids suddenly seized his arms.

"Whoa, hey!"

"AH!"

Suddenly, there were two hands that fell down like guillotine blades onto the arms. The droids reeled back and even Hogarth lost his breath right then just as the Giant lifted his arms to reveal a couple of disembodied robot ones. Hogarth rubbed his safe, still attached limbs. He thought the Giant was going to decline fully, and he felt he was not far behind.

All three robot leaders pulled back as the Giant's big face veered down in close proximity.

"If they harm a single hair on his head ---," he leaned in menacingly. "You won't want to know what I'm going to do to you." They all gave each other nervous looks to look away.

Hogarth chuckled at that. "Right, well," he pointed his fingers out. "Let's go robo-bros."

The Giant leaned down one last time to his face; he kept himself poised. "Are you sure?"

With a deciding breath, Hogarth reached up and laid his hand upon the jutting mandible.

"I'm sure, Giant," he than moved away and turned his back completely. "No following."

And they were gone.

The Giant turned with a hateful look down at them. "We've been let down and deceived many times on this journey," he said to the three, "Why should I begin to trust you all?"

"Does the fact that we speak fluently help?" The green droid asked him.

He only slit his shutters tighter together. "My friend, _a human, _is willing to give his entire future for people he's never met. What have the three of you done for people in the past?"

"For our own kind, many things," the yellow droid said, "but let's speak of your past."

"Let's not." The Giant started for the outside, ready to get Hogarth whether he liked it or not and then procure the teleporter whether they liked it or not. He was set to thoroughly pound the interior of the ironclad chamber, when the green droid said something to him:

"You know the humans had more missiles."

He stopped cold in his tracks.

"The humans were mostly talk," the black droid continued, "But we have collected quite a fine menagerie of aerial assault arsenals. Everything from early developments at the turn of the twentieth century, to their discontinuation after the atmosphere proved ineffective."

All shapes in the Giant's brown-hazed vision seemed to fade away; he stood like a pillar in the enormous structure. There was nothing around him that he could touch, there was no one around that he could reach down and finger. He was absolutely, completely alone. The Giant looked up, blinked and was ready to hold out his arms to complete his mission.

"We will send them."

He snapped back to reality.

"Iron Giant," The black droid further emphasized for him. "We are going to use these forbidden warfare on them." It said in an emotionless voice. "We will use them on the entire mortal world by tomorrow's end unless you become the very thing you sought to

prevent." The Giant stood there, motionless, speechless, "Hogarth is a liability to us all."

"And so you want me to become a missile."

"Or we will use the ancient warheads to annihilate all traces of the remaining human race."

To be continued…


	53. Lightest before the Dawn

**I.**

Night, Robocity.

The glow of a long day's end was banded across the deep blue horizon as Hogarth, in a more retrospective state of mind, settled down on the outskirts of the metal building. He felt disgruntled, upset and exhausted as he lay across the jutting walkway outside to look out upon the many shanty homes that were also settling in for the night ahead.

"What've I done?"

Hogarth took a thoughtfully deep breath and rested his cheek against the cool metal as he stared off into the distance, to his surprise flickers of light ignited inside the homes almost as though by way of sequence or signal. He could feel a small smile start over his face as different symbols and styled-looking text began to signify signs of culture.

But this, too, proved a flaw.

The disbelief on his face was evident to himself as beer emblems and shaded figures that rested upon what appeared to be stubs of white in piles vaguely reached his sight in glassless windows. Hogarth clutched at his chest, willing in all of the air from the small supplier he knew would run low by morning; he only had one oxygen tank left.

Just as he was hovering on the brink of that impassive depression, a new light was falling down upon him and grazing his path with white light. When Hogarth looked up, he saw to his amazement that it was an enormous last quarter moon that dwarfed him in the flat black sky. "Giant, Taylor," Hogarth's mouth formed the names in his heart,

"Julianne."

He closed his eyes and felt the lower lids were moist as full somnolence was coming.

The Giant.

"Hogarth," He said quietly. The iron automaton peered out onto the starless night from a circular channel and sighed heavily, relieved in a small way to finally have some distance from the abominable though formidable droid leaders. They were ancient pieces of machinery, holding abhorrence for the people that they had been designed to protect.

And unless the Giant followed their orders, he pressed his face into his hands; they were going to do something much worse that would make these terrible conditions seem like a slice of paradise. He shook his head, and gave into hunger rather then impossible sleep.

There was nothing he could do now but be prepared.

**II. **

Honolulu; the edges.

Taylor looked out upon the red sky, where blackening clouds melted into a darkening and cosmically shifting atmosphere. She was quiet, pensive, as Pygmy noisily consumed her meals. The people whom had been caught in the slick-wrap metal cocoons had run away screaming upon being released, rushing back towards the medical center --- haste-ridden.

She had figured that The Reapers had intended for Pygmy to destroy the resisting people, much like she was sure that Kina's cyborg experimentation was incorporated somehow into their plans. Taylor sighed to herself, rubbing her stomach while her mind hazed over.

"_I could still help you with your birth_," Trina had told her woodenly, the woman was still very shocked at having been spared by the still anarchic-like Pygmy. Taylor had not said a single word to her; instead she had simply allowed the droid to collect all of her neatly sewn meals (which consisted of everyone else's weaker travel droids) and had left then.

Taylor was indifferent to things now. She was relieved that everyone had made it all out safely, her mother and Daniel especially, but reserved about talking to them. As far as the Council was concerned, they were not going to try and bother them anymore and yet somehow Taylor's surprising rise to the top ranks felt hollow and joyless without those who really mattered to her: Hogarth, the Giant, Inx, Tress, Ven, Archer. The first two had been gone for over a month, and the others were making attempts to find safer locations.

The sound of mechanical legs approaching from behind made Taylor curve out her hand to reach her, "We do bad?" Pygmy asked quietly, curving in her unsheathed sword arm.

"I did." Taylor told her charge, running her hand down the more bulbous upper layer of Pygmy's fore tong. "This, _this_," she gestured to her stomach, "Is my entire fault, Pygmy."

Before the young woman could break out into a full episode of weeping into her hands, she felt the curious droid slide her hand about. Taylor looked down and cringed away at the sharp blade that could easily cut one of her fingers off. She studied the razor edge of the tool very carefully, pulled out a strand of hair and made it split down to the middle.

"Taylor," Pygmy questioned softly.

"You," She looked at herself in the reflection of the knife arm, and then turned to meet Pygmy's innocently inquiring eyes. "You represent Hogarth." Taylor then faced back around in time to see a reflection of the half moon and the tan swirled planet of Venus.

**III. **

Dawn, Robocity.

Hogarth carefully examined every facial feature of his in a chipped mirror he had found, going over every last curve of detail he'd used a very rusty blade on, which he had also found, on the edge of the fortress to shave away the clumping mass of former goatee; no cut inflicted. Giving his image a nod, he quickly docked his pony-tail and ran his fingers through his rusty, greasy hair just as a pair of two-armed guards came to retrieve the man.

"I'm guessing you guys and the Giant didn't get into any scrapes." He said wryly.

Without a single comment, the two led a compelled yet stone-faced Hogarth across one of many steep paths that curved down into the less sludge-covered and more dirt-filled surroundings of Robocity; gazing over he vaguely saw that the soil appeared a bit fertile.

Hogarth, however, was not here to make potential crop speculations. The air suddenly grew much thicker and to Hogarth's silent amazement, as they entered the circle of fate, the air around them began to sustain and regulate to a breathable altitude inside his lungs.

He walked quietly down the hard-paneled reinforced walling of the coliseum structure and was about to question the brown rust buckets on either side of him what exactly the leaders had in mind, when a panel of door was pushed and he was pushed into a network.

"Hey!" Hogarth yelped in protest and whirled around to bang a fist on the metal. "_Yow_!"

Shaking visibly, feeling alone and aching, Hogarth looked down the long archways that reminded him of paths the laurel-crowned, toga-sporting gladiators would take to usually meet an honorable fate. Flexing his muscles back, he marched forward. But his brave and war-glory strut soon devolved into an arm - sagging trudge down to the metal compound.

Unbeknownst to him; and shielded by a thick wall that otherwise hid Hogarth from floor-level view, the Giant was making his way toward the inner circle of the show structure. It was always a sight to see him; he knew this, but to make a spectacle out of his friend too.

How could Hogarth have been so willing to do this? Why, when so much was at stake?

In near unison, the two began a slow progression towards the center as morning streamed in through the enormous coliseum. Hogarth made it just to the edge of the middle largest archway and looked toward an enormous door in another branch-off path that paralleled his own. As he stood 'just' hidden by this, not even in the center, the Giant was looking to the doorway Hogarth was supposed to enter while he, himself, stood further ahead of the archway and not directly in Hogarth's line of vision towards the larger entrance way.

They both sighed quietly to themselves, contemplating any way to avoid doing this.

"God," Hogarth whispered, dotting a crucifix across his chest. "Help me through this," he did not notice as a shadow hovered over him. Hogarth felt the start of a reassurance enter his chest, and he pressed his hand to his heart, "Help all of us, God, especially the Giant. Help him to remember his humanity, because he's the reason I still have faith, Lord." He shuddered under his breath, "His sacrifice is my living proof of what your Son has done."

The figure listening closely reeled back at Hogarth's speech, he went right back into the shadows before the young man could turn and see him. Hogarth then took out his metal cross, kissed it once and placed it over his red-blue attire before continuing forward. He walked silently to the closed-metal panel entrance, sensing a comforting presence over him yet not daring to try and look for fear he would break the calmness which entered.

Taking in the fact that he would probably never see his family again in the past, after all the time he had spent trying to return to them, Hogarth collapsed against the wall with his face in his hands, breathing deep intakes of fresh, clean air as he did. The Giant loomed across the thinner archways, his footsteps light in their tread, as he examined his friend in the opposing walkway. His size was more evident, casting ambivalently over Hogarth in an ominous shadow. Noticing how downcast Hogarth was, and afraid for him, the Giant slid a finger through the barely maneuverable opening and tapped his shoulder carefully.

"What have I done?" He gasped; his voice was almost a cry as he shrugged at the touch.

"You're doing what you believe in." The Giant insisted, resting his digit there a moment.

"I'm a fool."

"No!"

Hogarth turned around with tears ringing his eyes, stunned.

"No, Hogarth Hughes," the Giant bent down to his level, on his hands and with a firm glare in his white eyes, "You are _not_ a fool. Whatever happens, it won't be your fault."

He looked away, got up and walked toward the opening door to a platform that rose him up automatically to the top. From there, Hogarth walked to a columned opening and saw that there were, indeed, two opposing sides. There, the grey-faced, rag-dressed people sat across from much more chatty, lively yet weather-worn droids. The sight was disgusting and that disgust refueled Hogarth's earlier passion to try and help these desperate people.

It had seemed like a dream, the demeaning way in which these droids were treating them.

"Hogarth." The Giant was now at head-level with him. Or, rather, the opposite.

"We have to put on a _real_, _convincing _act." He told the automaton, peering down with a heavy sadness at the legions of people below. "We're the only chance these people have."

The Giant remained silent.

Hogarth looked at him sideways. "I'm sorry about yesterday."

"No," He met his gaze, "You're not."

"I meant about the soul thing." Hogarth told him.

"I know." The Giant craned his head back around to the front.

Hogarth smiled emotionally despite their misery.

"They're always far and few a part, but we've had our good moments, haven't we?"

The Giant looked into his eyes, and softening, agreed in his baritone voice, "We have."

"We've had some great moments." Hogarth looked outwards.

"Yes." The Giant's voice agreed unwavering, nearly forever controlled and calm.

"And when we get through this, and we _will_, we'll have more moments like that, right?"

That's when the tenor of his eyes changed, the Giant turned more straightforward as he stepped up to him and gently gripped a very thinly spaced column. "I can't promise that."

"I know we said Rockwell, but that's not possible, but still ---."

"I meant only Rockwell, Hogarth." The Giant said sadly, his eyes rimming in blue.

"Giant," Hogarth moved forward, suddenly desperate. "You said you would."

"In Rockwell-."

"Screw Rockwell Maine! Screw it to Hell, it's in the past and I'm never seeing it again!"

The Giant took a large step back, flabbergasted and not knowing what to say.

"I saved something that you no longer care about." He finally said numbly.

"No, no, I _do_ care. But, Giant-."

The robot shook his head; he had nothing left to say to Hogarth except, "I'm sorry too."

"Giant," Hogarth grimaced and shouted. "Giant, no!"

A thick paneling of wall slid between them, separating the two.

His forlorn eyes were the last thing Hogarth saw.

"GIANT!" He screamed at the top of his lungs and pounded a fist into the closed section.

But it was much too late. They were going to fight each other, and only one would leave. And yet Hogarth did not know this, but reality was soon to be a large wake up call for him.

To be continued...


	54. Ultimatum

**I.**** – **Hogarth**.**

The Iron Giant and Hogarth exited from different ends of the circular coliseum-type of structure, all of the spectators peered eagerly upon them to get a good look at both of the challenging sides. Hogarth didn't even bother to shield his eyes from the light that came down on him, or to look at the green, yellow and black droids situated up in boxed pews surrounded by pale-pinkish and dull tan colored worker and guard droids. Instead, with a heavy conscious, he kept his eyes centered right into the Giant's. He felt his hope inside was still crushing from their previous talk. They had come to an arrangement, they had…

"So, as you can see," the green droid, nameless of course, called out, "He is still alive."

There was an explosion of laughter that came from the opposing side at the admit-ably unlikelihood of it all. In many respects, the young man's crazy misadventures should have at least left him paralyzed. It was even a wonder that the Giant had made it all this way.

Hogarth lifted a brow at him --- his eyes were expressionless as he was standing erect.

The young man twisted his mouth down in a frown and took a few steps forward, and the Giant mirrored him by taking only two steps. Hogarth raised both brows, ran a hand into his stringy hair and sauntered out confidently. The Giant took two stolid steps forward at this, but he kept his composure strictly rigid and when a collected-looking Hogarth drew nearer there went a flicker of apprehension across the young man's face. He waited then.

"Well?" The robot broke the silence in his deep, rumbling voice.

Hogarth took a step back as he realized the predicament he was in, as well as the sort of judgment-day-look the Giant wore. He grew a little more nervous, and felt that his quick trigger inputs and humor wouldn't work anymore. Out of his element, Hogarth rolled his shoulders back, peered over at the people looking down at him and whirled to face them.

"People of the future!" Hogarth shouted out, throwing his arms in the air. "Do you feel completely unarmed? Yes! The ones who were suppose to help you have turned against you," there was a shuddering breath behind him; Hogarth took that as the Giant adding a dramatic effect, "Yes, they have left you seemingly defenseless, but, _I_ am here tell you

All that you are not defenseless. The time has come everyone for you to see that you _are_ armed; sure, you do not have weapons in your systems. But that doesn't mean your spirits are weak. It's only when you rise up against the opposition," while he had meant to point at The Reapers; his finger traveled to the Giant, "against the oppression that binds you all

And begin to object, that you will feel yourselves rising to the occasion." Hogarth then turned with a smug smile at him, questions and curious chatter began behind him as the different ethnic groups of people went into debate. The robots looked frantically among themselves, confused and not knowing what to do. But the Giant, however, stayed calm. Some people began cheering as Hogarth started away from them, counterclockwise, his blue eyes locked with the Giant's speculating ones. Slowly, observantly, he did this too.

"Do you really think you can win this?"

Keeping his expression mutual, Hogarth shrugged one shoulder. "No, but I'm not afraid."

The Giant squared his shutters in warningly. "Maybe you should be." He said ominously.

Hogarth furrowed his brows in, impressed at how well the Giant was acting this through.

"Maybe you should be brought down a few forty-six stories so you can fit into a house."

His white eyes widened and he took a few steps forward once they had made a whole lap.

"You heard me," Hogarth mocked before cupping his mouth. "_Or can't you!?"_

This elicited unexpected laughter from both sides.

The Giant squared his shoulders as the young man pulled out a cigarette and stuck it into his mouth, he left it un-lit but twisted it in his teeth to further_ '_act_'_ out their Atomo routine.

"You kept one?" The robot asked without amusement.

"It's customary to grant last smokes."

"Hmm... there's a part of me that really doesn't want to do this."

Hogarth folded his arms and smirked sideways. "But everyone knows… no, no wait," he turned to the aroused crowds behind him, "The _world _knows you're too noble to do this."

An excited young girl in a simple dresses gleefully left her family and hopped a single wall of metal to try and hug him. Hogarth initially backed away, but opened his arm for her, reminded of the people from Omega he had helped, but when two metal hands from out of nowhere grabbed her, Hogarth fended them off and escorted the subdued twelve-to-thirteen-year-old girl to her place. He gave her a gentle pat on the arm, smiling kindly:

"Go sit down, okay. I promise, everything's going to work out."

She whimpered at the jeering droids from the far side.

"Look at me," Hogarth lightly grasped her thin arms, saying in a low, assuring voice, "I know I've gotten you stirred up, but I promise. Things will get better. Now go sit down."

The dark-skinned girl sniffed hard and was escorted roughly to her seat by the guards in a hard lock. Hogarth took a deep breath, turned around on his heel and marched forward to 'meet his fate'. He tried secretly sending the dead-pan – looking Giant an approving look on looking so bad-ass-serious, but the robot only continued to look like some humongous statue as Hogarth walked fearlessly up to him. As he did this, however, something began to tug warningly in his heart. The more he examined the Giant, the more he really studied the large metal creature before him, the more Hogarth saw an intimate object that looked like it was truly made from iron to be a statue. And this lack of life, this mannequin type of appearance, startled Hogarth so much he stopped and truly examined the Giant's eyes.

Something was different, something was wrong. The life in his friend's eyes was gone.

"Giant," Hogarth gasped, frightened by this.

When this reaction finally clicked, the automaton lifted his enormous arms and dropped them down in a striking action. Hogarth clenched his teeth as these earth-shaking waves nearly knocked him off of his feet; when he looked the limbs now had him closed inside. He turned to meet his friend's eyes and saw that some emotion had returned to them, he lifted his arm down, much like he had the first time they'd met, and felt a thought enter:

_"You're going to hurt me, aren't you?" _This voice was a child's one inside his head.

"Do you trust me?" The Giant asked simply.

Hogarth took a step forward, refusing to believe the impossible, his hand out to touch. In his mind's eye the Giant was walking away from him, his large hand traveling away too.

But reality sharply set in as the robot thrust his bulk forward, making Hogarth pull back.

"Giant…" He fumbled a little, licking his lips. "Tone it down a little, pal."

"**_Do_** you trust me?" His white eyes became alive and his voice stung with precise heat.

Hogarth was now bewildered. "Of course, Giant," he said plausibly. "Of course…"

A real sorrow that clutched right into Hogarth's heart entered the Giant's eyes. "Don't."

With that simple word, he moved back with only a few steps between them.

It was like a nightmare; Hogarth began trying to grope for a sanction of blessed fantasy. He wasn't hearing this, he didn't believe this. What was he saying? This was _not_ an act. Hogarth's heart crippled and his eyes widened upon the Giant, his brows arching in awe.

But this time it was not in wonderment of a good, selfless deed that was about to be done.

"Giant," Hogarth said with a falling jaw as he stumbled for balance. "How…"

His white eyes remained hard pressed.

"How the _HELL _could you?!" He screamed furiously. Hogarth turned his outraged glare to the Reapers and saw that the green droid was concealing something beneath his chair.

The upset young man scanned the ground frantically for reason, claimed it, and then with an understanding that the Giant had no other choice, looked back at him. But before any words could escape his mouth, Hogarth saw the gigantic robot was staring straight up at the sky, bending his large arms down and, before he could blink, jettisoning before him.

There was a moment of silent thought before Hogarth looked down at his feet in shame.

"I pledge allegiance…" He looked up at the rapidly ascending robot.

"… To God. Of these united lands of people."

They all collectively gasped, so enamored by his words.

"And from here _all _the way back to **America****! **For which you stand…"

**II. ****– **The Giant.

The Giant was ascending at a rapid level, his feet were heating and he felt the thick piles of black, smudging clouds as they coated his ironed armor in heaping splats the more he was peaking the altitudes. He closed his eyes as he reached a high pinnacle of the long, out-of-reach earth and staying there a moment, imagined his half-hatched plan working.

It most likely wouldn't.

"I love you," he said as he kept his eyes closed and fell back down to the planet feet first.

His arms were firmly planted at his sides.

**

* * *

**

**- **Hogarth.

"… One world, indivisible, with _liberty_," Hogarth shouted as a form was rapidly falling upon him, there were no flames engulfing the crashing creature for there was nothing to try and cause it to burn up, "and _justice,_" he lifted his arms to the sky, finishing, "for all!"

_WHoooooooooooooh Poo!_

The entire coliseum shook violently as the enormous robot landed and rocked it so hard that a large crack began rupturing down one side where the people were. Screaming, the desperate people rushed on all sides to escape the violent fracture forming down it now. Once a grand fault line was imprinted into the ground, and the shaking had stopped, the Giant turned uncompromising ivory eyes upon the startled threesome sitting before him.

"Tomorrow morning," He thrust his finger into their faces with a hard glower in his gaze.

_"But-." _The green droid tried shakily to object.

"No compromise."

The Giant, not turning to look at either side, stomped off wordlessly to climb the gigantic wall of the structure, knocking a few newly ruptured hidden tower missiles poised at the sky as he did, and headed off stalwartly into the distance as mid-day shone the left scene.

To be continued…


	55. Determination

**I.**- Trisha.

She moved her daughter's thin shoulder up and down as dawn settled on the sparkling Hawaiian skyline. The young woman stirred with a quiet moan, thinking that her mom was getting her up for school as she always did. What was today, anyway? It couldn't be her sophmore year again.

"Mama?"

"Erika," When Taylor awoke, she saw that her stomach was large and that her once bright blue jumpsuit tightly fitted across her body had sand in the stretch marks. "Honey, time to go home."

"Where is she?"

The calm grey-brown eyes set in her mother's startlingly youthful face softened and she moved.

"Look for yourself, Erika."

"Pygmy…" She looked up and saw that the violet-colored robot was standing over her with her legs spread out in the air; her soft yellow eyes blinking across her normal face. "Oh sweetheart!"

Trisha chuckled to herself as Taylor embraced the young robot's face joyfully.

"The Council is allowing us to go home."

"It's a trick, right?" Taylor glared at her guardedly. "It's just something they're saying."

"Provided we take precaution," Daniel, approaching them in his regular clothes and handing over Taylor's old shirt and jeans (modified), smiled at her tentatively. "They really have no more say."

"My clothes!" Taylor grabbed them and then looked at them both from on her knees. "But, h-."

When she turned to look passed them, Inx and Trina were smiling at her - holding hands.

She smiled back.

"We're not back in Rockwell's woods yet," Daniel reminded her.

Taylor wrinkled her brow. "What do you mean?"

"It all depends on if Hogarth and the Giant can survive in Robocity." Trisha explained to her.

Taking a deliberating moment of silence, Taylor sighed heavily and slipped the tie-die shirt over her and then pulled on the worn out jeans. She couldn't help but grinning, showing off her small, but white teeth as she fastened the button and zipped up the zipper on her faded out bell bottoms.

"Pygmy," Taylor turned to her.

The sun-eyed creature blinked and then lifted her bottom shutters. "Erika."

She smiled at that but then sobered as she turned to the other adults. "Let's go to America."

**II. **– The Iron Giant.

It was a long walk back to the black spires of archipelago without Hogarth; the Giant didn't stop long enough to think or think long enough to make any rational decision, he just kept walking in a solitary direction. That was all there was to it. The Giant was just going to have to keep going on for the both of them. He made it to the start of the oddball formations and, sighing, sat down. The reality of what had gone on earlier today wasn't registering. He was disabled, as well as in denial.

Absentmindedly, he picked up a piece of metal he had found and, ignoring the agonizing pain in his stomach, he began crafting the shard of grey material into a replica of a person. It was small; the person had scrawny arms and thin legs. He narrowed his shutters, thumbing a tuft of hair that stuck up on the little metal doll's head. The Giant's moon-eyed gaze began frantically moving as he crafted a tiny, detailed person in between his fingers, desperate to see him just one more time.

"Hogarth…"

A flash of metal entered his head; there was a man holding up a knife to another one's throat.

"No."

There was a fumbling, unsure note in his friend's voice as he tried to justify a soul's existence.

"Hogarth." The Giant was aware that his voice was rising.

He saw the blank look in his friend's eyes, a new weapon - an _electric_ gun - moving upwards.

_"You'll never know what you mean to me."_

As he kept replaying these events in his mind, the Giant didn't notice as fragments of the red dots from before as they went through the crevices of the dark mountains and sneaked up on him. The Giant kept heaping the memories in his mind, looking the tiny creation over between his fingers.

"Hogarth…"

The crimson spots moved into the uncovered crevices of his iron skin, he had shed his red-blue armor from Iceland that morning; they swarmed around through his systems as he was silently breaking down. Heaving sobs that would emitted from his iron throat in low – sounding noises, falling down onto his large iron knees, the Giant began unraveling. He fisted his hands together.

As the sun began setting in the west, the sound of repeated banging came from where he stood.

Grunting, groaning, crunching noises as something hit something again and again in what were painful inflictions. Beat, after beat, after beat. It was like a heart racing, it was beating again and again. Finally, just as they were becoming more fast-paced and aggressive, the whirring noise of something starting up rose from the black arches of rocky land. Before another pounding of metal upon metal was heard, the sun cast a shadow of a cylinder forming along an east-facing rock wall.

The atmosphere grew heavy, the air was still and with the tension and hostility of the past where it belonged, in the past, the long form rose to where the end barrel was pointing opposite the way it should have faced. The sun, beaming a golden ribbon in the light drenched distance, formed a silhouette of a large creature holding the object at its face. It stood there for a long moment as the sound of energy gradually built up inside the otherwise hollow cylinder. There was a ringing that came moving from the very depths of the object; if it was possible for him to implode from trying his best to keep his weapons in, then perhaps, since Hogarth was gone, if he were to take aim at…

"… _What you did was self-sacrifice, which was selflessly giving your life for others_. _Suicide is.._."

"Selfishly taking your life."

The energy within the cannon died down and fell back into its concentrated fury container. As the sun sank completely into the depths of darkness surrounding him, he watched his arm revert back.

"Taylor."

He gripped his face into his hands. "_Hogarth."_

"Giant!" There was a loud knock on the bottom of his heel. "I've been bangin' at your bangin' at me for the last ten minutes. Come on, open up this sucker and let me get some fresh air already!"

Disbelieving, speechless, completely amazed, the Giant checked the heel he had thought Hogarth might have connected in with his landing. There was another banging sensation and he then went to open his right heel. The Giant gaped as Hogarth landed gently on his palm, and then grew even more so as his iron re-wielded itself back into the large foot funnel. He simply was awe-struck as Hogarth brushed off some of the rocket powder from his suit and was given a skeptical look then.

"Next time a pair of nut bolt goons…" His words traveled off as he examined the Giant.

- Hogarth.

He almost put his hands to his mouth as the condition his friend was in became apparent, gaining awareness in his mortification at the Giant's caved-in astrodome-shaped head, his crater-looking inflictions dented randomly around his body and the unmistakable, terrific awe inside of his eyes.

"Giant, I've heard about beating yourself up, but, what've you _done _to yourself?"

"Hogarth…" He trembled out his name.

"Giant," Hogarth shook his head disconcertingly. "You shouldn't have done this over me."

His shutters tightened around his eyes, "Didn't I tell you what the most important thing was to…"

With a considerate look, Hogarth held his arms wide out. "Come here… just, just, come here."

Quietly, the Giant moved his cupped hands and held Hogarth within an inch of one pummeled in crater on his chest. The metal was tough and warm against Hogarth as he rested his body tiredly upon only a small breadth of the chest. He felt his friend intended to speak, but he didn't himself.

"Can you ever forgive me?" The fear that inflicted the Giant's tone made him press down harder.

"You're my best friend…" Hogarth told him through a quick intake of breath. "I always will."

"I'm sorry." He breathed also.

Hogarth bit his bottom lip hard until it felt numb. "I'm sorry too, buddy." He said. "I am too."

More stable, the Giant moved him back.

"Whoa, now," Hogarth held his hands out, arching his arms to face palms in, "Easy does it, IG."

He grew perplexed as the automaton looked at him for a long moment.

"I listened to you talk that one night, in the landfill…"

Hogarth nodded.

"Now please listen to me."

Silently, Hogarth nodded again as the Giant gently set him on a platform of rock.

"You've taught me a lot of things, Hogarth. Things," he rested his finger on the man's shoulder. "I can not ever repay you for. The fact is, you need to follow what _your _God wants you to do..."

"Giant!" Hogarth hastened to argue.

"And _I_," He moved right into Hogarth's face, with hand to his chest, "Need to follow what I was made to do, and that means being a robot… a droid. That's what I am. No matter how much you want me to be human and no matter how much I want to be your friend, that's _not _how it should be."

"You _are_ my friend regardless of what you are." Hogarth told him firmly. "You are who you-."

"I choose to in-debt myself to you for as long as we're together." The Giant cut him off then. "That's how I want things to-to be..."

Hogarth just glared at him. "I can tell you're lying."

He turned away from the pain in Hogarth's eyes and stepped under the large rock that appeared to be an archway, turned to look at him once, pained too, and walked away from him all together as the sun was completely set in the west. Hogarth closed his eyes; let the tears threatening their way to the forefront escape, and then finally looked up to see that a new moon was lighted only by the beginning of twilight that settled over the enormous dark valley. He looked down, his face fallen in half a shadow. Night was coming and Hogarth knew that he needed to prepare for tomorrow…

"… What is equality anyway?" He murmured.

**III. ****– **Rockwell Maine.

Gordon Rhinestien looked up from his final exams in school, casually observed the sky as every other person who had come to accept the inevitable had done, and asked himself a question then.

**"**What is fairness in this crazy world, anyways? I will say this Hogarth Hughes, you ever get back from that world of yers," the man grinned, serious; "You'll owe your step-dad a lifetime of debt."

Dean glanced over at him from the park bench from where he was at work developing his latest project (not in art form) for a _possible_ residence; a very complicated house system, and winked.

"Mr. Robinson said not to worry over it." Gordon said.

"You never know how things'll work out, kiddo." Dean wondered what he could call Hogarth.

To be continued…


	56. Midpoint Latitude: Part 1 of 3

**A/N: **Will I ever get done with this? Answer, yes.

- Robocity, Japan.

When the Giant opened his eyes, he wasn't sure where he was. The world felt to him very large, not empty but as though something waited on the outside for either him or Hogarth. _Hogarth? _He shifted his eyes over and their roving focal point finally fell on the man sitting a ways away before centering on him as he lay against a plateau on his chest. How long or even _how _he had gotten there intriguingly eluded the resting robot.

"Morning, Hercules." Hogarth smiled down at him like nothing had happened.

The Giant held a dubious look in his eyes, making it clear that yesterday wasn't over.

"Humor me."

He sighed. "Morning Achilles."

They continued to hold each other's gazes for a long moment. The Giant hesitated but when he noticed that there was a space in between where Hogarth sat against the rock and where he laid, the Giant shifted over so the gap was closed. Still in the realm of a peaceful moment, the Giant and Hogarth slowly started to reach out to touch the other one but the unsure of the two paused, grimaced and moved away in his remembrance.

Hogarth argued silently by hopping on to his retreating hand and looking in his eyes.

"I was thinking a lot last night. Giant, it doesn't matter whose equal to whom. What

counts is that we're here," he placed his hand down on the robot's, "and still friends."

The Giant just continued to stare at him, unconvinced.

"Giant, come on. You're equal to me, I'm equal to you! One plus one is two! Does it even really matter in the end? We're equals to each in our own right!" Hogarth's face fell with his fervent, desperate rant, and he was panting as he asked then. "All right?"

Without saying a word, much to Hogarth's dismay and anger, the Giant encompassed him inside his hands and then set him up on the plateau of rock; kneeling below him.

"Giant, what're you doing?"

"Coming down a few forty-six stories."

Hogarth glanced down onto the ground, rubbing his arm uncomfortably. "Giant…"

"It should be this way." He responded dismally.

"Stop," Hogarth tried stumbling down the thick rock, the Giant descending just a little

more below him as he did. "Just stop already. I want to talk with you normally, okay?"

The Giant just kept going. "I told you last night; this is way it needs to be. Let's talk."

He edged toward the cliff, tempting the Giant to react. "Not until we're eye-to-eye."

"You would really put me through this after I almost lost you." He stated agitatedly.

Hogarth scoffed at that. "You would put _me _through this after what _I_ went through."

The Giant emphasized with his hands, trying to get his real meaning across. "I only-."

There was a low, whistling noise that filled his sensors. He jerked his eyes sideways, then to a confused Hogarth and leapt to swipe him from off of the oblong stone. They both fell now, away from a near-cataclysmic brush with doom. The Giant shielded Hogarth in arm, and looked back in disbelief of what appeared to have been a vertical missile spearing by.

"Giant?" Hogarth questioned him in fear, scooting back. "We can't die… come back to reality, all right? Just…" he ground his teeth together, "…Just get your head on straight!"

"What?" The Giant pressed his back down, trying to detect another impact by listening.

"Are you even listening to me?"

He turned back to him and asked a question of his own, "Can missiles fly on land?"

"A missile flying on land…?" His eyes widened. "That's no missile. That's… a torpedo."

"Torpedo?"

"Fly, Giant!"

"Hogarth?"

"FLY!"

Another whistle came and the Giant felt himself fly forward with the force of the torpedo into a ridge of rock. Grinding his teeth and hearing Hogarth's rational protests at him, the Giant took off in what was; just like when they had first arrived; a haphazard flight route.

"This is just like day one when we didn't work together! When I… when I left you guys."

"You just did the right thing," the Giant cut him off, weaving and bobbing, "I'm the-."

"Giant, stop! Just accept that it doesn't matter and let's fight for what does!"

He came to a jerking halt and looked at Hogarth with a blistering stare, when just that by itself was enough he lightened his expression, "This is the best way," he told him blurrily.

The Giant heard another incoming torpedo, ducked his head back and forth to glance at it and then moved Hogarth into a crater of his self-inflicted dent. "Giant!" he slipped passed the iron man's fingers and, not pausing for thought, leapt off his hands. Gasping, he dove to grasp Hogarth and the projectile streamlined over him. "I protect you too, remember?"

"Hogarth-."

"Here comes another one!"

"All right," the Giant whirled on his heel. "I'll be disassembled…"

"You pieced yourself back together once; do it again!"

They blasted down the columns of darkened stone structures; Hogarth tucked away as far as permitted by the Giant's large arms while the sound of his laser eyes vitalizing carried.

"Giant," Hogarth spoke fast, "Do it again. Do it _inside_ of yourself. That means you need to accept my morality." He rushed to speak now, "but accept that we could have a future with our family," he heard the sheer air of the missile crashing forward; "We're family!"

There was a resonant sound that seemed to connect inside of the Giant, and Hogarth felt himself being moved to where the chest area was. He looked on and, gaping, watched as a stream of enormous power catapulted from his eye sockets and connected to the attack.

The Giant then revolved one heel around, and, curving himself awkwardly, angled away.

"You did it, Giant!" Hogarth shouted happily. "You took on that piece… of…"

When he looked up, he saw the Giant was staring solemnly forward.

"You're not a weapon, Giant. You're made for defensive purposes. _Defense_. Defend."

The Giant shifted his gaze down and met with Hogarth's, holding it steadily.

"Then what am I?" He asked blankly. "If I zap you right now-."

",-then it's my_ own _fault. That time in the junkyard," tears swelled to his eyes, "Giant, it was _me_ who was looking down the barrel of a gun. I didn't mean to, but I was the one… I was the one…" He finished his sentence, "I pulled the trigger Giant. I-I made you a gun."

"But, you-."

"_You_ are Superman." Hogarth grinned at him and then, as they evaded the target point of the Reaper's on-land system, he grew serious. "You're a great protector… and mine too."

"What?" What Hogarth said didn't seem to reach him.

"You're _my _protector!"

Before the torpedo tube, a hulking dark grey structure set in the ground, could send out a fifth attack, the Giant reattached his askew ankle nub, nabbed up an unearthed section of rock that had overlapped impressions on it and held it out before him. Hogarth moved to the top of his shoulder where the Giant motioned for him to retreat into his neck crevice.

The sound of the attack started building to the peak of its shrill height gradually and right before the Giant was ready to take on their oppressors, a much louder, terrain-terrorizing noise rang in their ears. He and Hogarth, and the many rusted-over droids, turned to see that a large mountain was beginning to rumble fiercely beneath their feet. The Giant and Hogarth gave each other floored looks and examined the area around them very closely.

"Giant, look. See where you created that fault line with your crash yesterday."

"It's triggering something."

"And it's not any man-made weapon either." Hogarth panicked.

Everyone reeled back as smoldering magma lumped out of a particularly narrow spout of rock. The Reapers stumbled away from their controls and people from out in the distance in their makeshift homes began shrieking. The Giant narrowed his shutters at this. "_Now,_ do you understand?" he pointed out at the scared people. "Those people need help now."

Hogarth came from around his shoulder, leaping up on to the top rip of the stone shield.

"Those people," He shouted down at all of them, "Need _you_. They need all of you, _now_."

There was a massive surge of people filing in through the sheer rock tower croppings.

The Giant looked at Hogarth --- who nodded right way --- and placed him on top of another plateau while he tried stopping the volcano himself. Though as hot magma spewed down towards them the odds didn't appear favorable. But with Hogarth yelling support, he tried.

To be completed…


	57. Midpoint Latitude: Part 2 of 3

**I**_. __ Robocity._

Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. This cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals. –Martin Luther King Jr.

– Hogarth

"Look around you---," Hogarth called down to his audience. "If that smoke gets in to your lungs," He pointed at the people, "You suffocate. And you," he pointed down to the robots, "If that lava gets on you, you melt. You're both parallel lines that need to meet at a mid-point. One is inspiration, and the other is creation. Help one another!"

He raced down the boulder from which he had stood on, hopping smaller rocks with the tingling of adrenaline coursing through his blood stream. Hogarth breathed in and out, pacing himself as he crisscrossed the deep V of rocks before making his way now over to where the Giant stood braced against the erupting volcano. He wasn't greeted.

"_Hogarth_!"

"Just hold on, buddy." He pulled his sleeves up, popped the cords of his oxygen box up his nose and pushed against the Giant's foreleg, "maybe something will happen."

There was nothing that happened.

The droids and people continued to stare at them in awe. Heat came rippling down in great waves, these tantalized Hogarth's skin in an itchy, annoying way. But he stood there against his friend's ankle even as lava was pouring over the black-rock canvass in rolling goops of concentrated glowing orange. The heat was building as the Giant, as he always did, protested any friend being in harms way when only _he_ could do it.

"Let me help you, all right? I'm your moral support, o-."

_POH!_

People screamed as a giant outpour of molten liquid showered down across them. The Giant reached for a rock as fresh lava was covering his exposed iron, and tossed it out like an enormous disk for the spill to catch it. Hogarth felt warm tears gathering in his eyes, his body was protesting it but he kept himself braced against the Giant's foreleg.

"I'm staying with you," he looked up at the robot, who looked down at him with slit in shutters, "I'm staying with you." He repeated devotedly. "I'm not going to lose it."

The people down below and the droids were conversing fervently. Hogarth smiled up at the Giant, and he in turn smiled down at Hogarth's willingness. It was just as when they had first met; he had been willing to endure the inhumanly task of saving another who was, in fact, not human. Hogarth felt the fumes rising up his nose and weighing him down. He fought with the sensation at first, but then slowly accepted his destiny.

"Hogarth...." The Giant said, warbled, as the voluminous shakes of the volcano that was behind him brought the automaton upon his knees. He glared at the ground as the now boiling, roasting, steam-rising lava spewed out of his open, gaping metal mouth.

"Now," A voice said.

"What?" the Giant looked up, hopeless.

"_Now_ you have proven yourselves," the black robot was in a wide-legged stance on a plateau, looking down intently at a collapsing Hogarth, "Now we'll hold up our end."

An enormous concave of light rose before them.

"How did you suppose the air bubbles were made?"

The Giant watched with, eyes wide, as the lit ball wrapped around the entirety of the space they were in. The people below were converging together with the steam punk-appearing droids, fulfilling their real functions. He saw with amazement that as they all came together, the air seemed lightening and the gravity reinstating itself was not unlike a cell membrane filtering out the wastes that had penetrated its layers, he felt rejuvenated seeing machine and man, unlike polar ions, using transmutation to restore the atmosphere and stop the deadly descent of lava that could destroy them.

"Yes." He dropped his head peacefully as the blood of earth that had created him so many years ago cooled and hardened drastically; a new official age now underway.

"You will survive…" the ebony droid's words entered his psyche. "Just like before."

"What happened to my kind?" the Giant asked, lulled, his eyes closed. "That's… it's one of the reasons I came here. Can you tell me why they crashed to earth and how-?"

"You." It responded quickly, rushing to leave, "You gained self-awareness when a crash to your head came about… the three of us, my comrades, saw you trying your best to gain the attention of your clones. When you tried to free them, however, the humans cast you away from earth's gravitational pull and your resistance to try and help them caused the platform to break. That, Iron Giant, is what truly happened…"

"…How can I believe you?"

"Because, you and Hogarth are the reasons for our abilities. That is why he is saved."

"Yes," the Giant repeated, mostly to himself, "He is saved. Saved."

- Hogarth.

There were noises from the distance. Hogarth craned his head back and forth, rolling it all the way around and trying to make sense of his surroundings. The world felt full, but with all the recent events he was left feeling empty inside. Remembering right away all that he'd seen and had caused to transpire, Hogarth tightened his closed eyes as hard guilt stung his heart. He thought he must be drifting on the bounds of Hell when a voice called his name.

"Hogarth?" It sounded heavenly. But still; it felt real.

"Mom," he mouthed silently. Hadn't Kina mentioned that the courtroom that had opened to the past was for his mother, but hadn't Daniel blatantly denied it? The whole thing had been a set-up. Kina had lied about his friends' demise, but what if she had not lied to him.

What if Kina, simply, had not known that the closet ones to the man's heart had made it?

"Hogarth…"

"Mom?" He said aloud.

"I probably act like it sometimes." A nigh-human-sounding deep voice humored him.

A small grin spread across his face. Hogarth allowed his eyes to flutter open and looked up to see a pair of relieved but still pained white eyes looking down at him. He wrinkled his forehead in confusion, "I thought that you didn't want to _be above_ me anymore, IG."

"We're the same height to each other in our own right." He said quietly after a moment.

Hogarth grinned again, this time wider.

"Hi, Achilles." The Giant said with fond happiness as his friend tried lying up higher.

"Hi, Hercules." He settled for the position he was at against the Giant's foot, happy also.

They just stared at each other for a long moment, looking intently into each other's eyes. Even as they shared beliefs, the same friends, a deep friendship and even a physical type of relationship, they couldn't read into the other's mind. Normally, one would try and do his best to avoid this intense concentration with someone else, but they only continued to peer wonderingly into each other's eyes. Finally, disappointed at not being able to meet the Giant on the deeper level he wanted, Hogarth tried more seriously to readjust himself.

_Maybe mind-reading is just a little too personal. _

"Careful," the Giant went to try and help him balance. That's when Hogarth saw that his hand was now solid, black rock; it covered the deep impressions pounded into his iron skin. "Here," he ignored his friend's reaction and tried to get him to settle. "Try to drink."

Hogarth forgot the new coat of valley stone and tried now to keep the touched feeling of his friend's nurturing actions to himself, he simply watched patiently, and in a contently resigned manner, as the Giant used his craggy rocked hand to ladle out something. The robot was given a reproachful look, however, as he returned with his hand full of water.

"It's clean," He promised.

Hogarth smiled slightly and allowed the Giant to gently shift it down to his mouth so that the spring of cleansed thermal liquid wet his parched throat. Hot and sticky, he weakly went to splash some more on his face. When Hogarth looked up he saw the Giant waiting for him with an affected but modest look on his face. "Thank you," he said to him sincerely.

"Always." The Giant told him.

"What about everyone else?" Hogarth sighed deeply as he rested back on the stone foot.

"See for yourself," his friend lightened up at this. Holding out a jutting finger, he helped the young man up just enough so that he could turn around and see what he could not in all of his life have dreamt of seeing; and he had seen a lot. "It's better… but not perfect."

"Close enough." Hogarth replied, astounded.

The world beyond the shadowy-stone covered robot revealed a light blue lining through mist-clouded creases; it made him sit up more automatically. While the ground was a coat of freshly-covered volcanic ash, there were people and droids tentatively moving about so as to collect debris or help establish more stable forms of homing. Hogarth gave his head a good shake and then turned a full fifty-degree turn to look at the progress going on. From his experience, this sort of thing didn't occur so fast. It'd taken him months.

"They were waiting in the wings," the Giant explained, displeased-sounding, "To see how we would interact. If we got along well, then they had planned to willingly change their ways toward humans…" he made a breathy noise. "They didn't anticipate this."

"_This_." Hogarth turned to him excitedly. "Turned out better then we anticipated."

"Their homes are destroyed."

"Thank God! Now they can rebuild their lives a better way. Were, they always meant to do this?" He gave the Giant a curious look. "They were always meant to help the earth."

"And so was I." The Giant told him. "That's what my creators had made me for."

Hogarth smiled endearingly that the heavy burden was finally removed from his friend's shoulders. "And it's time I did what I was made to do." He dug around in the buttoned up pants of his dusted red-and-blue jumpsuit, retrieving a handful of seeds that he'd kept for himself from the large greenhouse they had encountered. "And that will have to mean…"

"… You'll need to become Clark Kent." The Giant finished for him.

Hogarth looked at the Giant suspiciously. "When did you figure it out?"

"I'm Superman." He answered plainly, proudly.

To be continued…


	58. Midpoint Latitude: Part 3 of 3

… Hogarth …

The sky still overhead lingered furls of lighter, grayer clouds as Hogarth patiently showed a young group of dark-skinned individuals how to use their fresh volcanic ash as a means for them to grow the potato and onion crops he and the Giant had helped within the glass vicinity dome. "And when the sky clears up," he said to all of them, "the sun will help it."

A small girl in a shawl of musky gray tugged at his sweat-spotted tank top.

"What is the sun?" She asked in her Ominish language.

Before he could respond, the young woman from before leapt up and hugged him.

Hogarth toyed around with the metal piece he would brace around his tongue; the very one Kina had given him, and looked out concernedly into the distance, wondering if his friend was all right. He had taken off early that morning and Hogarth hoped that he was fairing all right. The big automaton could take a lot, but Hogarth knew that he was still vulnerable. A breeze carried over the lands and his hair wafted as faint soot shafts came.

… The Giant …

The day was encompassed in a horizon of fair-weathered splendor. He looked up at it and then down at the new stone of darkest tones that crystallized over his body after he'd had molten magma spill over himself. It was interesting, the layered upon massing of igneous black rock springing cylinder curvatures around his arms and forming a now strong stony armor that masked the dented sores dotted across his crusting old iron chest cavity. As he moved at a thoughtful, almost observant pace, he agreed now that it was his best look yet.

_Except for __the T-Bird IG Double H…_

Everything felt lighter, airier as he walked along and looked out at the valley spread of new, slicked, shining ebony. The older adults and droids were out scouring the lands, in the midst of constructing new homes of the surprisingly rapidly cooling material. He let this sink in with a fresh, relieved sensation; Hogarth had been right; what otherwise had had the makings of a tragedy was now only an afterthought as their surroundings rebuilt.

But as he continued his trek, the Giant had to now ponder what exactly he was going to do with his life after he got Hogarth home, or, if Hogarth even wanted to return home at all. The Giant let the idea roll around in his head; there had been several times where he had acted like he didn't _want _to return home. Of course, the incident when he'd first seen Hogarth definitely played an issue. Maybe, it was possible, he was afraid to return home.

The sobering sight of their first meeting took hold inside of him. He was about to mull it all out in his head, to replay it from scene-to-scene, when the presence of the green droid leader with the satellite ears made him turn his white eyes down and take in the creature.

"Quite a bit of work." It mentioned.

"What's going to happen?" The Giant asked him. "I want to get Hogarth home, but I need to be able to protect him." he took in his gargantuan body. "With them not outdoing us..."

"You cannot function without your weapons."

"I know."

"We could, however…"

"_No_." The Giant abruptly shot out the word. "I'm not going to use them. Not when I-."

"As Hogarth told you," it turned to him, more abrupt. "You are not a weapon."

"If I use them, then what am I?" He asked, the burden he still carried piercing the soul of his voice. "If I aim them at a human being or my own kind, am I more then a tool? I give my life and you still find a way to collect missiles, I return to life and continue trying…"

"There's still much of life to discover." It said after a brief pause for thought. "Iron Giant, it is difficult to know exactly how to make amends for all that has progressed over time. I submit not just out of your winning the match, but rather out of our respect towards you."

He gave the robot a surprised look.

"We betrayed each other. You see," it lowered its head in meditative sadness. "It isn't for us to decide what you will do, or Hogarth. But we can give you an alternative..." the winged appendages on its head focused at him. "What is it you are truly afraid of? Is it yourself?"

"No."

"Is it the inevitability of your eternal life?"

"Well…"

"You do know humans reproduce."

The Giant titled his head sideways.

"If you are afraid of losing Hogarth, you must still remember that his offspring live on."

"That's good to know." He said truthfully.

"So what is holding you back?"

The Giant craned the same rubber-rimed neck as the green creature's up and looked out upon the lands. He slanted his shutters and focused hard, trying to summon what was in his life that was really instilling all of this fear and hardship inside of himself. It seemed he always had a penchant for putting himself down, for placing accusation upon his self.

"I don't want to harm anyone." He admitted after a time. "And I don't want to hurt like this anymore…" The Giant placed his face in his hand. "I've always felt so much hurt."

"Does Hogarth cause it?"

"No. He always tries to encourage me to make more of myself."

"And have you?"

The Giant sent the creature a heavy stare. "You ask a lot of questions."

"I believe if you are ever to overcome yourself," it stared at him harder. "You must learn to 'use' what has been given to you as a means of protection. As Hogarth has called you:"

"A protector."

It raised its bottom shutters at that.

"How long do I have?" The Giant asked more seriously.

"Six days."

He closed his eyes.

The creature was right. There was only one way he could ever truly be at peace now.

* * *

The afternoon sun smoldered on the horizon of the parting clouds, like it was absorbing in all of the last bad particles of the once toxic air. Hogarth sighed contently to himself, letting better memories fill his head as he lounged back against a small, smooth, spout-like stone. He felt himself about to go to sleep when the rumbling sound of approaching feet made him smile and look up over his shoulder. The Giant appeared a little hesitant.

"Hey there, boulder man. Still as solid as a rock?"

He gave a playful bump against his head. "Room for one more?"

Hogarth looked from side-to-side at the tall cliffs of sheer sable rock enclosing his spigot of the same element. "Su rocks es me rocks." he said to the large robot still eyeing him.

The Giant shook his head to avoid out-right laughing --- which he never had. He then surveyed the stone structures and shoved the one on the right out of the way. Hogarth got up and mirrored this. The Giant paused and looked over his shoulder, down at him, Hogarth felt it on himself and peered over at him as well before they gradually smiled.

Deciding this was fine, and enjoying their hidden surroundings, they both settled down into the familiar solitude of one another. Hogarth peered up at him, and then he now in return. The Giant interpreted this and began to try explaining what was going to happen.

Hogarth tried talking at once too.

"I just-."

"We can't-."

They paused.

"You go first." The Giant insisted.

"You know, whether your rock, dirt, iron, rock..." Hogarth started to tell him, smiling a bit.

He titled his head and then nodded in understanding.

"No. That's not what I'm saying. Giant, when I joke around with you. Like back in the..."

"The arena?"

Hogarth sighed, guilt-stricken. "It really hurts you, doesn't it? Especially coming from me."

He considered this a moment.

"Yes, it does."

"You know I only do it to get you to lighten up. You're my buddy, I want you to remember that."

The Giant smiled down at him.

"I've decided on something."

Hogarth grinned a little. "Again?" he climbed into the Giant's opening hand. They stood.

His friend sombered in that moment. "I'm going to learn how to use my weapons."

This truly shocked him.

"Would you be all right with it?"

Hogarth nodded, certain of something.

"Only if I get to help you..." he held out his hand. "As a friend and partner."

The Giant took it --- completely in his own. "Yes, and because we're one."

...


	59. Coming full circle

**Cue thought of the day: **_What happens when individuality becomes uniformity?_

Author's note: Can you believe I tried a bit of thought-provoking philosophy on my family?

I.

The night that stirred overhead signaled the start of new life beginning to swirl around, it was like a giant telescope had extended from the rocky observatory and both the Giant and Hogarth had access once again to the star-scoped heavens. They enjoyed the simplest ebb and flow of the expanding atmosphere, to the familiar patterns of the symbolic stars...

"… It's nice to have some normalcy back."

"Mmm."

"Remember the names I called all the sky souls?" Hogarth enticed.

The Giant chuckled softly, "I haven't forgotten _that _fast Hogarth."

"Right. Right." He looked from the sprawled out rock man back up to the mystical silver lit fire-balls, getting comfortable in his own little curved-in rock talon. "So," Hogarth let out a thoughtful sigh. "I guess the real last leg of our lap-around-the-world is tomorrow."

The Giant turned his way. "Yes." He said plainly. "I guess it is."

"The beginning of a new era for these people."

He felt the large creature's eyes taking him in and Hogarth began to feel a new sensation spreading over him; something foreign to him. _'We don't know what it is or what it can do. I don't feel safe Hogarth… do you?' _the shadowy words shivered on into his reverie.

"Tomorrow is the beginning of your life, too." The Giant told him, the familiarity of his voice comforted the space of doubt and uncertainty inside of Hogarth. "I decided what to do with my life a long time ago, Hogarth," he grew a little bit firmer. "You have to also."

The young man didn't say a word.

He hesitated before saying anything else.

"Can I ask you something?"

Hogarth looked at him and raised a brow at his timid bravery. "You know you can."

"Are you… afraid, to go back home?"

The mood in Hogarth's eyes changed from peaceful to concern over the Giant's bothered expression. "You really do act like my mom," he flashed a grin, then grimaced and before long took a drawn out breath _'Hmm… mmff', _"Yeah," Hogarth admitted, "I am scared. But..."

"But what?"

A greater fear arose. "Does that make you feel any different about me? I mean, if I'm not always secure in my faith in God," Hogarth stymied. "Does that lessen your faith in me?"

"You're my friend."

"That's not enough, is-!" Hogarth bolted up and his face was strained, the Giant tightened his shutters around his eyes and lowered his hand to try and calm him down. "I-I just I…"

"It's enough for me, Hogarth." He told him, trying to sound vindictive, touching him on the back and coaxing him to return to normal. "Maybe when we…when we first met, it was a lot more simple." Hogarth lowered his shoulders, listening, "And now it's just not."

This befell a new realization to the young man. "That was back when we were simpler, I mean," he fell back against the rock in thought, "I took the most complicated thing… you know, trying to humanize you," He smiled a little at the Giant, "And it was very simple."

"Right… because I believed you. It was so easy to believe back then. And with Tress…"

They looked at each other, smiled fully and went to resting back against the rocks. "Let's just enjoy being together for tonight." Hogarth suggested idly. "Just… just for one night."

"Or two." The Giant dared.

"Or three."

"Or four."

"We only have four days, Hogarth." The Giant reminded him.

"Or like a soul… forever."

The two fell asleep after a while of rambling musings, reassured only by one another.

* * *

He walked a stretch of shadow lingering near his feet, there was a source of unseen light that was over head and gaping an otherwise darkened path for him to meander. Hogarth was disconnected; he wasn't searching for anything in particular and had no real need to search for anyone or even to go anywhere. He imagined just wandering this unclear little line of nothingness forever, so what if he didn't go home? Did he even have a home now?

"_Tomorrow is the beginning of your life, too." _

Hogarth frowned, waving away the annoying comment. If he grew up, that would mean that he would have to accept full responsibility for his life. And if he did this then that'd mean he couldn't go off like he was still nine. That would mean Hogarth would have to accept, yet again, the possibility of not having his entire family, or, even if they mostly wanted him, the possibility that he couldn't be with them if he were to face legal justice.

More pointedly, Gordon Rhinestien and his sheriff father.

"_You'll be taken…"_

Hogarth ran now, scared, panicking, the Giant's voice melding with a more sinister one.

"_You'll be taken away from her, Hogarth."_

It felt like blood was starting to rush up into his eye sockets, his head was becoming all the more fogged over and tears like the ones that had gathered at the volcano site came.

Chokingly, desperately, Hogarth called for his mother. He imagined the sight of people from the past looking in on him; he imagined Kent Mansley's unexpressive eyes on , switching around, he met the middle-aged ones of Daniel Barnes catching his too. The man's beard was neat not frazzled; his eyes were a deep blue and reassuring to him.

He told him now that Hogarth's mother was all right; like he had back when first asked.

"Show me proof!" Hogarth yelled angrily.

"_She's safe, Hogarth." _

"Damn, Barnes, then prove it!"

Daniel's eyes softened. _"I know what it's like to lose someone you love."_

"How!?" Hogarth demanded, blistering.

"_I lost my son."_

Instantly, light engulf Hogarth's senses and he jolted up. Daylight was clear over his head and the sun beat a little too brightly, the atmosphere not completely adjusted, upon him. It was strange seeing the land so unscathed and reforming in the presence of morning. With all that was placed on the back burner of his mind a mere dream, Hogarth looked around.

"Giant?"

He was gone.

It was like yesterday morning when he had left before Hogarth had barely stirred. Trying to keep the feeling of abandonment at bay, the young man got up, attempted a couple of back stretches and went at a tedious, scouting lope to try and find some life around there.

"Hello?" Hogarth placed his hands to his mouth. "'Lo? If anywhere hasn't left, answer!"

He went around a few turns of shining sable and came face-to-face with the same sentry lady as before, Shania or something. "Left who?" she smiled slyly. "You? Oh, dear me."

Hogarth only glared.

"Where's my friend?"

"Training, of course."

"That's not what I-."

"Don't you have some lesser educated life forms to attend to? Like you did the Omega?"

Hogarth stuck a finger in her face. "You have until three-." he began sharply.

"Actually," two rock-thick fingers gently clamped on his hand and lowered it down to his side carefully, "Shanesha suggested I work on my anatomical structure piece for part."

"_Well," _Hogarth crossed his arms and said presumptuously, "I see we're fully law abiding."

The Giant gave him a patient look. "She's not a droid maker or fixer, but she does know how to teach me to use my body parts correctly." He sighed at Hogarth's scornful display.

"_Please,_ that's like when 'my' mother tried to teach me the birds and the bees. 'I've' seen how you use your body parts in a lot of cool ways, rocket launchers at your cheap imitations, elevators, platforms, podiums, bridges, spy wear, even slicing an egg or two."

"It's his choice." Shanesha reminded him simply. "His body."

"What she said, huh?" Hogarth replied sarcastically as if he suspected the Giant might say it. He saw the real need in his friend's eyes and sighed resignedly, "She's right…"

"Your way isn't always the best way," The Giant braved.

Hogarth frowned. "That's not the way I want--- I mean, it shouldn't be this way. You shouldn't be afraid if I disapprove or not…" he shook his head haggardly. "No, wait."

A comforting hand suddenly found his shoulder. "Learning to control your weapons is not the only thing that seems in need of repair," Shanesha looked up as she spoke this.

The Giant turned to Hogarth meaningfully, "She's right," he added, "we're in disrepair."

"I just want things to be between us," Hogarth admitted in frustration, "I mean, all things considered, _you_ should be the one jealous of my and Taylor's attraction. You've spent…"

"Jealously is not in a robot's nature," Shanesha stepped back, reasoning. "We are human, you and I," she tried to explain to him, "Your relationship is genuine and caring, both of you, but it is a very muddled one as well. That was what the Reapers wanted to observe."

Hogarth turned to her tiredly, "Then how do we fix our relationship before it's too late?"

His voice sounded broken, his childish uncertainty showing and his prideful heart gaping.

"We could do it together." The Giant offered gently. "And with help," he looked over.

"That is what I am here for." Shanesha turned to her plum-shelled droid who came up to be by her now. "Honestly, Berlin," she rubbed the top of its head. "They've much to learn."

"And…" Hogarth's voice returned gradually and he held out his hand to see what she'd do. "Only if your good at relationship counseling." She caught it in a side-grasping hold.

"No, only yours I will be able to help."

"Fair enough." He said levelly and turned to the Giant, recovered, "So, what're we doing?"

They both sat down in sync and, slowly, as if in some bizarre dejuve sequence, Hogarth spread out his legs. The Giant did this as well as this was the next region of his body to begin exercising. In an instant, both recalled that this mirrored their long-ago encounter.

"All right," Hogarth grinned a little, "Guess we'll start with some leg stretch-."

"_You," _Shanesha handed him a hologram and thrust the paper he had designed his hover cycle on in his face, obviously plucked at 'their' first encounter, "Have been given a new task of designing all new transmutable armor for every droid on this new ash plantation."

"I'm not following you." Hogarth said, confused.

"And neither is he," she nodded to the Giant, "To repair your relationship, you must be away from each other doing constructive activities and, once exhausted, then meeting."

"Well," Hogarth smiled grimly at his friend. "It's what I had to do when we were first separated," The Giant tilted his head at the ache in his voice, "And had to do when…"

"_And," _Shanesha grabbed Hogarth by the arm and swung him around to face her; there were to be no more half-hearted or solitary nods of agreement, "No more pity partying."

The Giant, who had reached his hand out to intercede, reeled it back. "No more."

"Giant…"

"Right?" He burned a look straight into Hogarth's eyes. "Right, Hogarth. No more pity."

"Yes," The man stood up straighter, and, placed a hand on the woman's arm. "Teach us."

This act of true compliance set the Giant's heart at rest. Maybe part of protecting those he loved wasn't entirely physical, maybe, as Hogarth was doing, it was also protecting what was inside of yourself as well. And to protect what was inside, he had to reclaim his trust.

* * *

Hogarth knew inside that if he were to ever protect what was left of his and the Giant's faith in heroism and God, he was going to have to go along and, very quickly, grow up.

That meant to reform.

Conform.

To be continued…


	60. The last barrier

**A/N: **The chapter before the extended finale. Let it be known… well, that's about it. =J Enjoy the chapter!

Five days until Rockwell's portal opens…

I.

He watched Hogarth's movements very carefully. For the last few nights the Giant had all but been worried over his own plight, now his attention was solely focused on his friend. His milk-white eyes traced over the grown boy's side, watching him. Like what he had done with Taylor before they had left, the Giant wanted it to be the same with his best friend: and in a way his parent. He anticipated Hogarth's arousal quietly.

"Come on," his hand coaxed him gently. "It's sun-up." The Giant said.

"Uh… I had a dream." He rose up on the rock, mussing over his freed copper hair.

"Good?"

Hogarth sent him a harried look. "Does it sound like it was good, pal?"

The Giant only continued to stare at him, silently bedazzled.

At this thoughtful gaze, Hogarth also rolled around an idea in his head. "You really'd like that, wouldn't you?" he stated. "Someone big enough to rouse up more roughly."

"No," the Giant admitted breathily and turned back to look at him.

Hogarth tilted his head back questioningly. "You wouldn't want someone your size?"

"I just like the times between us."

This caused a smile to start across Hogarth's lips, and he forgot his troubled sleep.

* * *

More, realistic trouble lingered on the horizon.

"All right," Hogarth stood atop the Giant's left rocky shoulder, puzzled. "How're we going to manage to whip together a makeshift defense so we can stop your kids…?"

He received a surprised look.

"Well… what'd you expect? They came from you. Clones are just as screwed up as the whole cyborg thing." Hogarth groaned now. "The people here are taken care of."

"But the ash from the volcano covered up most of Robocity, including the city…"

"We could always go back to China's landfill."

"Hogarth, that's in the opposite direction." The Giant said rationally. "And very far."

A low, concentrated groan came from the robot's stomach and signaled deep hunger. He clutched at his lower abdomen and lurched forward with the unsatisfied pangs of food famine. Hogarth made his way down the rock-protruding arm and looked at him.

"Sorry, pal. Here I am complaining and here you and the other robots are hungry."

"It's not your fault." He said.

"Yeah, but still, I don't like seeing a big guy without enough food." Hogarth insisted. "All that's here is stone and rock, but there could be metal hiding in different places."

"It'd have to be liquefied before we could even transmute, Hogarth."

"If we cannot find food for the droids," Shaenasha walked up to the Giant's feet, she sported a deep crimson jumpsuit as she surveyed the slim pickings the droids and the people helping them were surfacing up with. "We will not be able to train or travel."

Hogarth frowned and leveled his eyes with the ground, when a spark of ingenuity lit up the framework of his imagination and the glow of the gears turning in his mind were almost as bright as the Giant's natural eye-luminance. "Giant, look down. See anything?"

"It's rock, Hogarth." He said patiently.

"Yes," the man climbed back up the shoulder and nudged the boulder behemoth with his elbow. "But what's _under _the rock." He nodded as the Giant plainly answered 'earth.'

"And," Hogarth grinned from ear-to-ear, "What formed the earth and you too?"

"Molten lava." The Giant caught on.

"Which has certain levels of metal in it," He spun his hands around. "And if we could reach it…" his hands spun faster, "or mine it, there'd be enough to feed these robots."

Purposefully, the Giant looked around, saw a convenient tower of sable rock and gave it a quick snag and uproot in one smooth motion. Hogarth hopped down quickly from his perch as the Giant carefully but swiftly set him down and went to work calling out parts the people and droids could play in reaching the great gooey goal. Like with his metal bits, the Giant busied himself with crushing and molding out a workable sable quartz drill.

An hour or more passed, and soon an enormous piece of rocky hardware was made up in a contributed jackhammer-like device. Hogarth was taken aback by the detail; even if some parts were just rough-edged plains that looked uneven, but that the Giant had this much potential at working outside of metal astonished him; and why shouldn't it?

"Ready?" The Giant turned down to him, looking out at all the others brimming to go.

Hogarth tried brushing his old feelings of being under-used aside.

"Let' er rip pal!" He called up to him, and gave a wide-armed salute.

He watched as the Giant used his own arms as enormous propellers, and, like a bike with pedals made for the hands, drove the thinned, quartz-curved drill down into the breadth of the glossy stone ground. "That's it," Hogarth coached. "Keep going. Now when you get down there, there should be a first layer pocketed waiting to be struck."

"Are you sure it won't trigger anymore eruptions?" The Giant's normally calmed and compliant baritone voice boomed a few octaves too high as he continued moving fast.

"We should be far enough!" Hogarth hollered back upwards. "Make sure you slow it down a little as soon as everyone gets those canals hollowed out." He looked out now at the long masses that formed somewhat neat lines moving out the crumbling quartz.

The idea was that the droids would use their hardened hands to break up the rock that was not already broken up by the Giant's makeshift marble jackhammer, and then it'd be passed to the people to throw out so that more depth was made and the progress to clear out a place for substitute liquid metal was well underway. Hogarth stayed where he was and endured the thrusts of ground rock powder that rode up his stuffy nostrils.

"Okay," He began pacing up and down and helping a few people at a time with their unloading of the rocky shrapnel parts. "Good guys, let's keep it goin'. Piece for part."

* * *

As the business carried on, Hogarth didn't notice that he was being watched from a safe distance by a black-haired young woman. She sighed and looked down at one of the only droids not working on the food-ration rescue; Berlin went about her regularly assigned functions of mentally calculating the precise time it would take to succeed at doing this. There was only so much time before they had before taking on the Giant's clones. She watched as Hogarth moved along and tried his best at assisting everyone.

_I wonder if this __Taylor__ he has mentioned sees the potential he's yet to see in himself._

* * *

II.

The last night before the return to Rockwell…

"Taylor." Hogarth spoke wonderingly.

Night was clear and the stars that formed in the sky dazzled coolly in the slightly chilled air that came with the formation of new atmosphere. He pondered silently to himself as he sensed a presence approaching from behind. Hogarth rose up on one elbow and gave the Giant a proud look as the large automaton settled down. Things had turned out great.

Sharing in this same feeling, the Giant demonstrated his new control over his rock-clad body by having his framework churn about without so much as causing an arm socket to move as well. Hogarth watched, entertained, as he then held up his hand and caused his fingers to disappear into their palmed-appendage and then emerge in a different location.

"And this should help you control your weapons." Hogarth asked.

"That and we've worked out different ways for me to use them at my will."

"But you haven't had them out yet." Hogarth pointed out. "I hope you can handle it."

"You're not upset that we've been apart so much, are you?"

His friend was silent and turned to look out into the shrouded distance.

"Hogarth?"

"I missed you." He admitted after a few moments, his eyes closed as the white beams of the Giant's own focused on him from fifteen feet away, lying sideways. "It's…" Hogarth fought to keep his tone of voice afloat. "It's hard, Giant." He sat up, emotive. "It's hard."

"It's been hard for me too… but, we've gotten better. You've helped design those suits."

"And we managed to save these people without anyone getting hurt." Hogarth agreed.

The Giant cocked his head wonderingly at how to console him.

"I'm fine, Giant… but, I don't know." He turned sideways. "I'm still dreaming a lot."

"I know." His admittance was an invitation. "I see you moving around a lot at night."

Hogarth didn't say anything for the longest time. The Giant sat behind him and tried his best not to let his eyes swivel closed. Everything was calm, but they both bristled quietly from where they sat. Finally, without needing any further coaxing, Hogarth turned to look straight up at him and addressed the Giant's obvious query with the fact that he had had a lot of dreams involving the FBI agent from his past. The Giant listened, careful and intent, as Hogarth went into somewhat descriptive detail about the moods he had been thrown in.

"Sometimes I'm afraid I turned out like him."

"That's not true, though. I've come to accept the fact that some people don't accept me."

"When they don't try to bomb you." Hogarth said, disgruntled.

The Giant leaned down. "Hogarth, I will _never _regret what I did for Rockwell, for 'you'."

"But I've always regretted telling Mansley where you were to protect my mother."

He stood up to full height, shocked.

"I live every day with the fact that I sold you out to the army."

"Hogarth!?" The Giant gasped in disbelief.

"That's the last reason I don't know if I can face my past." His eyes never traveled up.

Hogarth didn't add the word 'literally', he didn't say anything and instead walked away, leaving the Giant to watch him leave. But, not wanting to appear callous, he went to say:

"I had to protect her first, but I never wanted to sell you out… I didn't want you to die."

"It's not bad to die." The Giant said softly.

"It's bad when you're too afraid to die for what matters, and I can't ever die for you."

Hogarth walked away.

…


	61. Stone and Steel Pt 1 of 4

**A/N: **And all good things must come to an end… well, mostly. ;)

I. - Due date.

Early morning stood against him. He was almost literally between a rock and a wall as all the long, jagged corners of quartz and all the powdered lands were spread in rays of great, fanning sunlight. Hogarth smiled a little at the tranquility of dawn break, resting back in a convenient crevice he had secured. It'd be miraculous if anyone actually were able to find him; the thought of worrying the Giant and everyone caused a knotting of guilt in his gut.

"But what would I come home too?" He said to himself. "What if my family didn't…?"

"… What if they take me into…?"

"…Could there really be something wrong with my mom…?"

Hogarth stopped himself from going any further and spared himself the heart ache, it was just better if the Giant took them and he stayed there. He could make a life here, and he'd pretty much blown everything to pieces last night when he had made that statement. Very briefly tears formed around his eyes, and he dabbed at them calmly. This was for the best.

_It's not like he'll find me here. I left hours before anyone woke up…_

There was suddenly a rough jerk, and the ground gave several rumbles as a chunk of very massive proportions was removed from the left outer-to-middle-to-inner- rock-plain wall. Hogarth, in great surprise, turned to see that another, more expressive-looking rock chunk was giving him an even more surprised look. "Hogarth," he spoke, "They're ready to go."

Feeling the tinge of shame, the young man sent him back a heavy look and turned out to appraise the ebony terrain. Finally, before he could be completely overwhelmed with this terrible sensation, Hogarth lowered his head and said, "What if I do go back, then what?"

"You go home." The Giant answered gently.

He extinguished a shudder with a deep breath. "And what if I can't face my fate alone?"

No answer was given.

Hogarth lifted his neck as the Giant's rock-incased hand extended down to him in a curl, and then opened to reveal a white-gelled sandwich. "I still had one." He said admittedly.

They both heard a protesting growl, almost loud enough to rival a gigantic jackhammer.

Sighing, Hogarth took the sandwich, "Thanks," and devoured it in nearly four big bites.

"They need you, Hogarth." The Giant said after half a minute.

He only looked straight out into the distance, pondering, when he felt a cool material that was being applied to his chin and moved upwards like he had once a long time ago. Now it was for another purpose, it was for Hogarth's and all person's purpose. "I need you." A touch to the heart by his best friend, and Hogarth found his gaze turn to the opened hand.

This was the only safe way the Giant could communicate non-verbally; Hogarth traced the rock closed hand with his own in soothing strokes, almost meditatively affectionate as he very slowly realized the enormity of value he held for the Giant and how he _did _in fact need him. It was with this that he gave one more stroke and rose to his feet. Hogarth stepped over the sprawled out fingers and engulfed them in his arms, held them close, and then closed all three digits in silent refusal. The Giant just stared as he then folded in the thumb that was blocking his exit, and made off briskly away. Hogarth sucked in the air, his throat choking up.

* * *

"Are you sure this is the right spot?"

The whirring sounds of the dark blue droid fell silent as it reconfigured back to normal.

"This is it," Archer said, and then went on to explain, as he so often loved to, "I will not go any further outside of this city," he had no intent to explain to the boy why, "You must find Hogarth and the Giant before they leave, don't leave with them of course. But I need

To make sure the morale is high here. The rogue robots' announcement of peace is what must be investigated." He smiled down at the concerned little boy. "Do not worry young friend! Our friend's vitals are still in very good standing, and we are not crossing a line that has ever needed any ceasefire. Like great nations before us, we are representing ourselves."

"So if our two sides can start to get along," Tress ventured, "Maybe we call can."

"That is why we are here." Archer said positively. "I have faith that what was once meant to be good, that found corruption, can seek redemption again." _Much like what my earlier designs for the Iron Giant were intended for, _"Now, we move on." He said, goal-oriented.

What followed behind them both were different leagues of droids that were uncovered by a new menagerie of Alpha and Omega volunteers, they trotted along behind if there need be any preparation for a widespread greeting. They, fortunately, hadn't been devoured by the droid 'Pygmy', but the enormous force they would be up against proved to everyone a great point. While several remained benign, most of the Giant clones would prove to be a plague upon a pollution-wracked world. But, Archer found it best not to let the boy know.

– En route to Rockwell.

"I owe you a lot."

"Yes, you do." Trina grinned slightly behind the automatic face-cover mask, "And if I lend you one of these, remember, not to let it slap across your face. Take the two ends that will come together behind your ears and let them go." She took the appendage of Pygmy that had been transmuted for the ultrasound. "You look a little shocked, hon."

"It's just that…" Taylor swallowed hard. "It's not easy to imagine that in _any _year a person can find out the sex of their baby." Her mother and Trina laughed. "I mean-."

"Please," Ven called from the other side of the moving vessel. "No more."

"But please," Inx insisted, sending Trina a fond look, "Oh droid fixer and nurse of my same unit in Hawaii, what is the gender of our freedom-loving-." He was hushed by a look from Trisha. The woman turned her attentions to Daniel Barnes --- back to them.

And she had to wonder, did his entire family come from a line of loners?

"So tell us," Ven said resignedly. "Is Hogarth's kid a boy?"

Nearly all of them gawked at him.

"What? You all thought we didn't figure it out? Give us kids more credit then that."

- Heading back towards the rock bowel…

* * *

II.

Hogarth was walking. He wasn't sure where to and he didn't really care where to. What was there left to do? The stones he crawled over left powdered marks on his hands and all around him these stones continued to rise as both a cover, and a prison. Hogarth's aching heart felt just like that, petrified. It was like he just couldn't care anymore. There was on occasion the lapse of emotion he felt, but any true stirring or motivation had leaked right out of him. He couldn't face his hometown with what he had become; he could not even face himself for that matter. Hogarth was just about over another ledge when he saw ---

Tress.

The sight astounded him. There he was, he was standing right there with the now barely distinguishable comic book pressed to him. With a shuddering breath, Hogarth stumbled his way over to him. It had been a long time since they had been alone, and even longer since they had been able to talk with one another, but the sight of the child was hopeful.

"Tress," He said cautiously. Now the improbability was registering.

The boy turned to him. "Garth?"

"Hogarth."

Tress climbed up over the remaining rocks, his bright blonde hair and cloud-grey eyes all the more disbelieving. "What're you doing out here?" he asked. "I thought you were with everyone else… like I should be." Hogarth didn't say a word and took him in to his arms.

"You still don't think any less of me, do you little buddy?"

The child hugged him back fiercely now.

"You've got to go home, Hogarth. That's what everyone back in Iceland keeps saying."

"I know, Tress."

"They say that that's the only thing that matters anymore, making sure you all go back to the nineteenth… uh, the nineteenth," Hogarth didn't bother filling in the word. "Okay?"

He pulled him back, smiling down promisingly into Tress's face. "Okay."

The sound of a pair of stomps coming forward and they both turned to see the Giant was there, waiting to leave. Tress grinned up at him, but he and Hogarth didn't say one word to each other. Stonily, they boarded his opening hand and prepared to leave for the states.

Or, to what was left of them.

* * *

All the skies above them were plain out with thickened clouds; the cleared heavens above were a thing of the past as Hogarth stared contemplatively forward. He looked down onto the lit panel and made an attempt to talk, "You know, I would've come back eventually."

No one replied.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? You can't just ignore me like this, Giant." Hogarth fumed a bit.

He was continuously ignored.

"That's why you need someone who can be here with you," Hogarth told him, "I think a lot about it, Giant. If I can't be around, you can go back to Iceland I guess, but then what?

Then _what?" _he had to get a hold on himself. "I don't like thinking if I'm gone, that ---,"

"Can you do something?"

A faceless, but thoughtful deep voice said.

Hogarth nodded, accepting vagueness over nothing at all and feeling attention his way.

"Can you imagine something that you could do for the rest of your life? Something that would make you happy?" The Giant's face finally came on. "Something that's possible."

"Having you in my life." Hogarth said meekly, emptily, resting his back against the seat.

The eyes that stared back at him were forlorn but determined, "Anything but that."

"No." He said plainly.

"Try?" the Giant implored, urging. "Try, Hogarth. If anyone can, it's you."

"Rebuild my life."

"How?"

"With Taylor?"

"If you can't…"

"Go back to my family."

"If you can't…"

"Make the best of it."

"Think harder then that, Hogarth. Please."

His eyes fluttered closed. "Okay, pal…"

"You have to. I want you to have a life with or without us. You deserve to."

"But you deserve it more… maybe; maybe I could be an artist. Illustrate comic books."

"Like Superman?"

"I'd make my own." Hogarth grinned. "The Adventures of Irontron and the Garth man."

He fell asleep for the rest of the trip.

* * *

The Giant watched Hogarth long and ponderingly. _Could I go with him? What will we find in future Rockwell?_

_..._


	62. Stone and Steel Pt 2 of 4

**I.** -Hogarth

A small boy sat patiently inside a vacant shop. His blue eyes roved the streets as he waited for someone; he wasn't sure for who, and he wasn't sure when that person would arrive. People on the street acted as if the building in which he sat in did not exist. But the child never gave up enthusiastically waiting for that person, whoever they were, to come. He occasionally kicked his feet back and forth when suddenly the door opened and a young couple (one with a bundle inside her arms) appeared in the frame. The boy stood up and met the eyes of a short, thin woman with hazel eyes and a kind, tiny lipped smile. She kept an interested look in her eye, lowering her arm.

As she showed the boy a baby whose face was wrinkled and wizened like that of an old man, the young, tall man with red-brown hair falling over his dark blue eyes fiddled with a sign that hung on the front door, "You have a vacancy in this place?" he turned it over to face the nervous child.

He nodded. "Yes. My mom's renting out a room since my daddy left."

"How old are you?" The woman with the strange baby asked.

"Five."

"And _where_ did you say that vacancy was again?" The man asked with a kind, clever smile.

"Here," the little boy poked his chest lightly, "Here's the vacancy."

"You're crying." His woman guest noted concernedly.

"I am?"

"What's your name?" She pulled a tie-dye ascot from her neck, wet it and dabbed at his cheeks.

"Hogarth." The boy claimed.

"Well, Hogarth," the man brushed the bangs in front of his eyes back, and bent down. He was twenty-one with a two-tone blazer, crisp jeans and a freshened, clean-cut persona. "We'll stay."

…**II. **The Giant…

As no sign of break in the clouds occurred, the Giant came back on the screen to tell Hogarth that they were nearing Rockwell but that it was going to be gloomy. When he looked, he saw that his friend was still passed out across the chair; but what was surprising was that Hogarth smiled in a kind of peaceful, relaxed way that he hadn't seen in the last couple of weeks. It was a nice relief.

His eyes opened before the Giant could leave. "Hey, pal." He said fondly.

"Nap well?"

The man's smile widened sleepily and he rose up with a long-armed stretch. "Very well, it's like everything's going to turn out all right, you know? I got a good feeling." He sat up more and got his notepad out; sketches for the droids' rock armor filled the pages. "Listen, Giant, about before-"

A mechanical hand came out of a panel shoot and up. "As long as you're all right." He assured.

"I've come up with some ideas." Hogarth said, a bit more business-like, "For…" he trailed.

The Giant's blue-strobe head tilted. "For what?"

"All right, well, I got this idea a couple of days ago. Remember the _very _first time we met?"

"How can I forget?" He meant it as a good thing, despite the bittersweet remembrance.

Something far-fetched gleamed in Hogarth's eyes. It was like a temporary spark of mad genius. "Okay, we explain how and get everyone to transmute the droids that are following us into small power plants. You'll become an electrical rod and we'll transmit a temporary stun signal to your…"

The Giant's stare stopped him.

"What? It won't eletrocute them, just momentarily paralyze them."

"**No**, Hogarth."

"All right. You win." He looked defeated --- then smirked and said, "Need I even mention my acropolis idea, Hercules?"

"Go ahead." The Giant humored him.

"Cannons and catapults, baby. With metal ladened from Dean's junkyard. You and I might even do a rendition of David and Goliath."

"What's that part?"

He lifted up his fists, faked a punch at him and then indicated for the Giant to pretend to keel over. Hogarth then grabbed at his hair, gave a point over to indicate he meant the _Giant's_ head, yanked up and let the robot's invisible head be shown to all who hadn't gathered to see.

"Try again, Hogarth."

"Oh, all right," He crossed his arms and looked away. "Or, you know," Hogarth turned his way; a grin on his face, "a noise deafening device---," The Giant listened more intently to him. "Shanesta gave you good pointers on re-directing your weapons." He nodded. "Well, think about it, beneath this entire rocky exterior, you have heaping layers of magma incased in your body and if all your

Weapons come out simultaneously---," The Giant nodded, understanding. "It's like an eruption."

"But, won't they just incase too?"

"No. See, if any of them threaten you the layers of dormant stuff should come out briefly and the impact of the brief thrust against the protective layers of your rock will cause a pretty loud bang up close," Hogarth spoke enthusiastically, but then grinned nervously, "I could be totally wrong."

"It's an interesting idea. Hogarth, when this happens," He grew appealing. "Promise that you'll stay back until it's over." The man drew back at this. "I don't regret letting you come; now I see that I wanted it more then anything." Graveness entered his eyes and voice, "But I need you safe

Until we can get you home." Hogarth nodded to the necessity. "Wait, I think that we're almost-."

In a split-second, the stable seat had turned into a sink hole of air under Hogarth and he found he was sailing (and flailing) in a downwards, back-first fall to the ground. "_Whoa!"_ he was snatched.

The Giant looked down at him, sheepish, "Sorry. Are you all right?"

Hogarth grinned in recovery. "Yes and never _once _have you done anything to be sorry for IG. Of course, that two-colored suit they made you back in Iceland was something that needed apology."

"What?"

He suddenly grew conscious of something and felt around the place where nothing but rock was.

"Giant?"

"The gift you drew." His recognition was sudden and hard. "I left it back… I'm sorry, Hogarth."

He remembered now. "Oh! That's right, back in the landfill. Giant, come on, it was nothing big."

But the Giant took it as if it were so. "I forgot about it." He said. "I could make another, but---,"

"Yeah," Hogarth rubbed the back of his neck guiltily. "I know what you mean. Back when I lived in the, um, back when I _am in _the twentieth century, there were a lot of things that I forgot about."

He was given a curious look.

"Like my little sister."

"Why don't you both take a look around," Shanesta suggested as she approached them. "As you can see from behind, some things are going to take a while." She turned pitying. "I'm sorry, too."

"Sorry, sorry for _what?_" Hogarth objected. "You're risking your lives; do _not_ be sorry for that."

"I should know." The Giant spoke.

The grim situation they were up against dawned.

"Well," Shanesta frowned up at them. "You may want to direct your attentions out before you."

What Hogarth and the Giant turned to see, the future Rockwell, stunned them.

… **III.** Robert Evans…

_'If you decide to proceed with this, you must make minimal contact with the boy as possible.'_

_'Unless he appears to possess possible knowledge or information on the suspect's location.'_

_Fifteen-year-old Erika Robinson threw her pompoms aside and laughed liltingly. 'You guys are full of it! Uncle Robbie, when you asked me over…' she could see that her bubbly facade didn't impress here, 'Uncle Rob,' Erika spoke more candidly, 'I've got school in the next ten minutes.'_

Robert sighed. He hadn't elaborated until later on that day. The trick was that the organization in which Daniel and he had worked for; followed discreetly and nearly had their families lost in the process called for an unsuspecting intelligence agent to be chosen to work the field and obtain all and any useful information. In his line of government work, that always meant a down-trodden or financially insecure relative or friend. He groaned his regrets, digging his hands deep into the big pockets of his lightweight business-suit jacket. The portal was here, Erika and his sister might ---:

'I can't afford myself that notion.' He thought, reprimanding.

With a last look at the ownerless farmhouse, a shell of its former self, the man walked to his car.

To be continued…

To be continued…


	63. Stone and Steel Pt 3 of 4

**I**. Future Rockwell.

The many coastal lines were bare of life. A stench that occasionally wafted from deep in the dried mud ocean plains filled Hogarth's nose as he and the Giant walked at a slow, measured pace down the main beach front where the translucent skeletons of fish and lobsters scattered like loose litter. Neither of them said a word, because no word could describe the atrociousness of Hogarth's hometown. The air was stale in places, with pressure pushing down in others, so Hogarth had to partially wear his oxygen contraption set on medium. There was no sign of the old fishing docks that Hogarth had always thought would exist, just crumbled foundations and sediments.

"It's different then last time, huh?" He finally said. Because if he didn't talk like it was just another day in Rockwell, Maine, Hogarth knew he was going to start yelling.

He wanted to scream, he actually wanted the Giant to pick him up and start running as fast as he could through out the whole rubbish-filled town at his top speed. It was that suffocating. The Giant, himself, didn't reply back out of respect and simply took Hogarth up in his hand and set him on a large sheer cliff of eroded gray rock, letting his own mysterious black-rock frame rest against it. They stared out at the cold, dark valleys and occasional mountains that formed without the ocean to cover the surface.

"In a way it's… what am I saying?" Hogarth shuddered disgustedly. "It's god awful."

"It's still your home," the Giant tried saying, "It's just different."

"It's a hellhole, Giant. Look at it! This isn't Rockwell, this isn't the place you gave up your life for once, this isn't the place my father fought for," Hogarth ranted angrily. "I can't believe I ever liked this place, this-this pitiful, gross excuse for American soil is just," he was aware of his escalating fury and shouted at lung level. "_Is godforsaken_!"

"We should have expected the worse."

"I know! But it's just so damn ironic! We're still alive and everyone else is---,"

But before he could fall apart, the Giant's touch to the middle of his back kept him at bay. Even when he removed it, Hogarth took ten minutes in his crumpled half-bend, breathing heavily with just the start of a sob punctuating his throat. It was just such a mess how it had all turned out. The Giant didn't say anything, just let him rest.

"I'm sorry," He exhaled as he stood up, rubbing at his red eyes with his thick palm.

Hogarth noticed that he was back on the ground where the few places of brackish sea lingered a pungent, briny odor. But it was better then stale, half-air. The Giant took a moment to glance over his shoulder and then looked down at Hogarth with some hope in his eyes, but he moved away when the Iron Giant tried to pick him up again to look at something. The robot insisted, however, because he knew that he needed to do this.

"Trust me," He placed a hand to his heart like before, "I want you to see this."

Hogarth sighed deeply and placed his hand on the Giant's index finger, considered it a moment and then stepped into the center of the craggy ebony palm. Before he knew it, he was mid-air and looking out at what was before them both. There were huts, and on these huts were sea-hued tarps that had gathered water from the areas that rain fell down. Hogarth marveled silently at the ways his children's children had survived this.

"See," The Giant encouraged, "It _is _your home. It's like us. We're different…"

"But we're still who we are."

"Even if one of us hasn't chosen who we're going to be." His friend teased lightly.

But Hogarth had other ideas. "We still have time before your clones arrive?"

"A little while… is there some place you want to go?"

He smiled slightly, keeping his back to the once plentiful ocean populated with ocean life. "Remember that second day, when you were watching Taylor and me together..."

"You made that statue." The Giant got out. It was a tough subject for them both.

Not because there was anything wrong with it, but because of the pride and courage the statue commemorated and represented; an impossible measure that the Giant felt Hogarth was still conflicted about. And it was a fact that both of them knew would remain forever. The robot was a remembered, immortalized hero who had once been the eye of paranoia and fear. While Hogarth, no matter what he did, would be a wanted man.

"Yeah, Dean did." Hogarth tried hard not to get too emotive. "Uh…" he wracked his brain for something to think. "You know you could've just come out… but then ---,"

"It would have been for nothing. That was what I did for the old Rockwell, Hogarth."

"Like if Santa Clause really was discovered," he laughed. "Then the magic is gone."

"Or if you could see a soul… then that would prove it. You have to have faith it exists."

"Yes, that's right." Hogarth breathed calmly. "Giant, I hate to say it but you probably know me better then I do myself at this point. Can you show me what you think I'd want to see pal?" He received a peculiar look, but then was given a nod of understanding.

**II**. – Inx.

He watched from across the way as Taylor struggled with the uncomfortable twisting and turning; a result of Hogarth. The Asian had to control himself from going over to be by her side, and he had to control himself even harder to keep himself from pleading with her to let him father the child he believed Hogarth could not. But he settled for a smile up at Trina, who nodded back professionally at him. His eyes then traveled back to Taylor in a state of pre-labor-pains. She met his gaze and forced a smile, but Inx only stayed intent.

The man still believed that there was a chance with her.

…

He could have said 'This place has seen better days', but Hogarth knew that that wouldn't lessen the sting of seeing his old farmhouse in such disarray. As the clouds hung long and gray in the splotched sky, they didn't even bother looking at the dots of pine trees around them that had, in the last hundred years, scaled above even the Giant to a towering three-hundred feet. The charming little barn hadn't been replaced, but was canopied over with a vast cover of greenery. They examined paint-faded clapboarding, the window frames missing their glass and the sprawling porch which broke in planks. The small town boy who had at one time lived there couldn't break his wide gaze away or even do much of anything else.

The Giant gently rested two fingers along his shoulder, which Hogarth touched.

He closed his wet eyes and lowered his head. "This is what we have to prevent if we can help it. If we don't stop those robots, they're going back to our past IG. But if they do…"

"They won't."

"But if they do…"

"Hogarth?"

"It's just time to say goodbye."

The robot rose to full height quietly, ready to go when he was.

Hogarth sighed. "I love you," he mouthed to the home and turned to leave.

They were ready to return to the area where the Robocity volunteers were when a noise caught Hogarth's attention. He shifted on his heel and creased his brow, turning to walk up onto the rotted steps. The Giant questioned him, but his curiosity wouldn't let him turn back. Scuffling and scampering made Hogarth venture further across the creaky boards.

He made it to the door and pushed it open, quizzically peering into the shadowy depths. The Giant met his eyes when he looked back at him finally, shifted his head thoughtfully and pushed down on the bridge of his crest. Hogarth smiled in amusement as a single eye popped out of his head, and shook his head in refusal as the Giant reached inside with it.

"Giant, come on…" He reasoned. The four-fingered hand was still attached but quite big.

"If you're going in there you're not going in there alone, it could be dangerous."

"If I go in at all shouldn't that be my choice?" Hogarth waved him on. "Let's go then."

He was thankful for the extra light provided by the bulb luminance; the hand traveled by with the eye-screw following him. It looked blinded, like it couldn't see without its main power source, and he felt the need to reach out and guide it but the hand followed him in through the door. The Giant's still-attached eye gleamed in through the rectangle and let a beacon of white cascade over the living room: Hogarth swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Home bittersweet home." He muttered.

There were drapes hanging over everything. No piece of furniture or objects had been disturbed, but dust and webbing stretched across every corner and open space. Hogarth thumped his chest to keep his feelings down, and stepped through the room to take in the deserted home. The Giant's hand followed him, shedding light on the hidden mysteries of the farmhouse. Hogarth's roving eyes fell to a box near the stairwell, and, like a reluctant convict on the run returning to his place of residence, stepped up to the brown square full of what he knew would be mementos. And the first thing he saw when he opened the box lid, with the rock hand right behind him, was a no-pictured, rose-strung slip of lamentation .

"What is it, Hogarth?"

"An obituary."

"A what?"

"… Survived by a daughter," He had skimmed over the name, "And husband Dean…"

"What does that mean?"

"It means," Hogarth stifled the bad metal taste he had once tasted before. "Kina is going to pay."

"We haven't seen her for so long, Hogarth."

"It doesn't matter," He said in a low, angry voice, "The bitch is gonna pay for what she's done."

"Why?" The Giant sounded confused.

"Because, Dimelo's made me a barely legal orphan."

...

To be continued…


	64. Stone and Steel Pt 4 of 4

**A/N: **It's getting to be that time…

**I.**

"Hogarth, it happened so long ago and you were with Kina for eight months.**"**

"That doesn't change the fact that she's evil."

"And making her _pay_…" the deep voice behind him deepened. "How will it help you?"

Hogarth breathed in deeply and exhaled as the Giant tried to talk sense into him; he knew that it wasn't that his friend was trying to be patronizing --- but the reality was that Daniel Barnes had lied to him and it made him sick. He crumbled up the piece of lament in his rough hand, and heard the crinkle of a paper that was folded sideways just behind it. Hogarth slipped it out and was ready to read when the boards underneath him creaked.

The floor he saw was weak and couldn't support his weight, causing a crease up the wall.

"_Oh, no_…" He began to panic.

"Hogarth!"

The Giant hesitated for a only a split-second before punching a fraction of his upper arm inside, and cupping his stony hand so that he could paw Hogarth right out. It happened so fast that the young man couldn't even hurl a protest or fight, because right after the Giant had managed to pull him out without damage, most of the whole upper floor fell in and a great crash was heard as the inner walls collapsed with a resounding thud, shaking as they all produced grey dust that spewed through the jagged creases. The Giant shook his head.

"Hogarth…" His voice was shaken. "I-I didn't mean---."

"_Hogarth_," He spoke his name, but it wasn't in the third person.

"What?" The Giant looked at him, astonished. "Don't you---," he pointed, "care that---,"

"_And Iron Giant, this is where you will make sure my stepson gets home. It's also where you both will say your goodbyes. I want you to know I love you both and am proud of all of your efforts to do good. That goes for Julianne and the rest of our company. What you have found Hogarth is a keepsake and is for you to always have. What is on the back of this paper is for you Iron Giant, and is to give you certain ideas for your future as well._

_All your mother would have wanted is peace, Hogarth. Please give it to her, to us all._

_Dean."_

"I know how to read now." The Giant mentioned, slightly out of sorts.

Hogarth dropped his head and a few droplets fell to the Giant's rock-covered hand. He let the request settle in for a moment before he swiped at his eyes, and turned back to look at the still uncertain robot, "We need to try and reach her, Giant. Remember Archer? Kina's still his daughter and he must be here with Tress and the others. We've still got time left."

"Not much." The Giant warned him. "I'm getting a strange feeling…"

"Your kids?" Hogarth asked.

He was given a look, but it was for something different. "You said you wanted to stop her yourself if you got the chance. But if you do anything, please, don't do it out of revenge."

The critical look in his eyes made Hogarth nod compromisingly.

"I won't." He flipped the back of the note over, saw what was beneath and smiled.

When the Giant caught a look at it he smiled too.

They heard the sounds of stone-against-metal scraping and knew that the Robocity force was approaching. But the Giant turned another way, his head tilted slightly just so that he could hear the oncoming sounds of another force, "They're almost here," he said soberly.

"And we're ready." Hogarth said with a deep breath.

The Giant turned to look at him one more time, momentarily disarmed, and he in turn felt a lump rise to his throat at what was to be there final seconds together before they tried to stop the Giant's clones. Everything from the trees to the cloudy sky overhead quaked as a low, humming groan of what sounded like rocket jet engines beat on Hogarth's eardrums.

"Ow!" He clamped his hands over his fragile large lobes. 'A noise deafening device---,'

As the sounds grew, the Giant looked back down at Hogarth in his hands.

"This is our last time together."

The words out loud were even worse then in writing.

"What if we didn't follow anyone's instructions anymore?" Hogarth said loudly, quickly as the entire forestry seemed to take on a life of its own. "What if we…?" He had to stop himself before he lost his composure. "It wasn't supposed to be like this! What about…?"

"Hogarth-." The Giant tried reasoning.

"No! Listen! You said you wanted to come back, or we could make a family here, or---,"

The trees now practically wailed with sound and the robot had to press Hogarth close to his chest to keep the incredibly powerful noises from rupturing his hearing. He gave him a quick sorry look, and burst up into the air where not only had the now rock-slated robots from Robocity's taken flight with smaller jet feet (being the models after the Giant of course) but additional help from scattered post-America recruits had joined them all now.

Hogarth felt himself shifted from chest to shoulder as the noise died down completely.

"It's time." The Giant spoke with deadly calmness.

"It is." He agreed heavily, rising steadily to his feet to confront his last obstacle home.

"Yes," Archer suddenly appeared in his blue saucer-transmuted droid, turning to face the sea of many, _many _Iron Giant clones before them, his weathered face smiling, "I concur."

…

To be continued…


	65. Striking the Iron hot pt 1 of 2

**A/N: **Yes, good patrons, this is Hogarth and the Giant's finale. Thank you for your reading and reviewing! :D

**I. **

There was a point where a knife might have made for a much needed break.

Hogarth could feel the tension mounting as they leveled up in the air. The Robocity forces were to their backs, and the Giant's clones were to their faces. There were many, many blank-eyed robots floating by way of rocket jet feet in army-assembled fashion. In that period too, Hogarth admired the way the Giant could suspend himself in flight as he was. It was like keeping yourself still in water and not swimming, but he had a hunch that unless they pulled something off clever and quick, all of their smaller, now-rock-armored Robocity robots were going to be sinking; or drowning; but Hogarth had to think positive.

"Well… aren't you guys going to greet your long last dad? He's a hero, ya know?"

Hogarth sensed the Giant's disapproval.

"Hogarth," Archer said from his opposing side in a hush, "It is better to be quiet…"

"So that the Giant can try and return you safely." The green lead Robocity droid added.

It's two other rulers and it were the only ones that could effectively transmute without a human operator. And the other droids from Robocity had been transmuted but had gone without their human operators. Hogarth looked from side-to-side, chewing his lower lip.

He pointed at the green, yellow and black lead droids.

"_You _guys turned on Kina's right-hand man and probably drove him into self-destruction -," He gave the Giant a reassuring glance, and then turned to Archer, "And _you've _been held accountable for your daughter Kina's betrayal for some Commie in my distant past."

The Giant tilted his head to the shoulder Hogarth wasn't on. "What about it?" he asked.

"I dunno. I just thought a little recap was in order… so," He turned to the clones and went into an awkward mood. "Are you going to take us to your leader?" His inquiring eyes fell over on Archer again. "Well, sir. Where is Kina now?" The Giant turned to him now also.

"How do you know she's even here? Remember at the portal…"

A visible shudder was exchanged between the three of them.

"I mean, this is part of the reason we went all this way." Hogarth said seriously; and then gave a grin. "So we could show the perfect combination of droid and human together," he patted his chest, "Mainly IG evening out my ego, and me giving him a confidence boost."

"_Hogarth_,"the Giant said incredulously. Slightly amused, mostly surprised.

"In other words; the dream team."

He narrowed his shutters, and then cocked his head back. "Hmm…"

"Hogarth, Giant. That is enough." Archer said in a deep voice.

When they turned back around, their good humor was evaporated.

**II**.

_Could a robot die?_ It was a question the first and for quite some time only iron man had proposed. 'Well', Gold thought as she pulled herself over a tarp-covered hut with her two remaining hand-talons, 'we can endure harsh obstacles that come our way.' The partially intact fem-bot hadn't a clue where she was, as Kina had long ago deactivated any and all of her navigational capabilities. 'Kina'. She thought and lowered her orange optics as the full sting of memory came to mind. 'What have we done? How did all things go wrong?'

With her now peeling golden paint, the robot could fully feel the sensation of her circuits rubbing together like muscles cording throughout the human body. It was a strange thing to her – to feel. Even to refer to _herself_ as a female was now and again weird. But the old and determined robot continued to pull herself forward by her thin-sheeted talons. Pieces of earth got caught in clots of dirt and rock up in Gold's single arm, but she'd come so far as to hide her mangled body and hitch a ride yet again with the disembarking Alpha and Omega volunteers going back to the United States that she found she couldn't stop now.

"Have to keep going," She said in a low, feminine voice with a slight metallic ring to it as she saw the last of the volunteers who would have to put their lives on the line for the rest of the world pass over the spot where she had jumped off of. "Just have to keep going…"

And Gold did.

...

Hogarth erupted into a ranting rage.

"Is this what you wanted?" He yelled at a mangled, deformed Kina as she, with her pasty white skin and crippled self, hung raggedly. "Is this how you wanted things to turn out?"

A touch fell to his shoulder like previously, "I'm here," the Giant said gently, "I'm here."

Everything happened so fast that Hogarth couldn't keep up with all of the events as they were rapidly unfolding. Archer came up and whispered to them both that while all of the droids went to work with disabling the Giant's clones – sparking Hogarth's curiosity – he should get Hogarth down as quickly as possible under the many rows of Giant clones. It was imperative that the robot get his friend as far as possible to the portal before all of his weapons started acting up. With a look of certainty, the Giant streamlined downwards.

"Can you flying anymore errat-," Hogarth stopped in awe, "-tically." He gaped.

The Robocity droids practically flew at the Giant's clones, and Hogarth witnessed what they had perfected over so much time to themselves with human serfs. They shifted form on their own and shot themselves in a massive wave over the clones, swooping down like hawks going in for the kill and latching themselves on like dead-set mosquitoes wanting the rich blood of their poor host. Hogarth couldn't believe that these droids had been built in order to _repair _the Giant's original copies, and he couldn't believe the Giant – zipping and zooming passed everything – wasn't somewhat interested in seeing everything unfold.

"Giant!" He called up to the iron man from where he was against his chest. "Where're-?"

Suddenly, heart-poundingly, the Giant looked down at Hogarth – his eyes blazed crimson.

"They'll come after you too, won't they? They aren't built any differently then you pal."

"No-," He gave a cringe as his shoulder antennae – petrified – sprouted out. "We aren't."

"If your weapons come out while we're in flight, even with that sentry's help…"

Hogarth turned stricken.

"I'm going to find you shelter," The Giant said as he looked down, "Until I revert back."

"I might not get home if you do that." Hogarth told him. "This might be our sole chance."

His slated shutters curved in sympathetically at Hogarth and then he pushed down into a deeper drop to where a sea plain cliff was at. The Giant landed in one earth-rattling place and nudged Hogarth into a crevice of round boulder – not unlike he had done with Taylor.

"Soul partners, okay?" Hogarth said quickly as all of the Giant's weapons whipped out.

He stood up to his full '50 feet and nodded with a sigh, "Soul partners." With that, he left.

The Robocity fleet swept in just as he swooped out.

…

It was a sort of massacre. The Giant watched from his weapon-fitted form as many of his clones, or as Hogarth had dared to call them – his children, were swarmed and taken into captivity by the parasitic-acting droids. He looked away, hearing their frantic screeches and shrieks for help. The Giant tried to ignore them, he tried getting away to the back of the lines of his own offspring, but the familiar resonance of their wailing cries forced him to remember his own condition when Hogarth had found him electrocuting. Baring down his iron-incase teeth, the Giant doubled around as many of his clones had their metal and circuits ripped out. He bore down hard like a nose-diving plane that was going in for its haphazard crash-landing, thrust out his now crumbling stone frame which he knew would implode if he didn't let his weapons fire, and allowed the slates of black rock to boom out.

…

Hogarth moved from side-to-side within the shelter of the makeshift cave. The explosions rattled his eardrums and he had to cover his ears as the tearing of metal and the howls of agony emitted from the fast-falling droids. He tried his best not to let the noises affect the more sensitive organ in his body – his heart. Hogarth clutched at it and wrestled around at the anxiety that was beginning to torture him. It was in his nature to act, it was what went on inside of him, what was in him was a need to save and protect. And if he could not do this – 'I promised the Giant,' Hogarth fell with his shoulder to the wall. 'I promised him.'

"Hogarth!" A familiar voice boomed from the outside – like that of a godly intercom call.

Startled to attention, the young man pushed aside his apprehension and stumbled out of the jagged opening. The Giant was flying down in a swooping motion to where he was, his weapons were ablaze but he was had made a small space where Hogarth could climb in between – he winced – his metal trident and his long-nosed cannon. When the Giant's red eyes locked onto him, Hogarth knew it was time to go. He sprinted forward across the slab of stony ocean sea floor and made a quick leap backwards into the nook of the really large weapon appendages. They powered down as he was backed into the big metal chest.

_"Metal," _Hogarth mouthed gladly. He looked up at the Giant who looked down at him.

Before they could share another moment together, there was a crash and several of what were the remaining clones that hadn't gotten deactivated or pummeled by fragments of flying stone hammered down into the Giant's backside. Hogarth clenched his teeth and held on tightly as the Giant was thrust down into an odd sort of metallic ground. With a few more bombarding punches into his solid iron hide, the Giant was knocked sideways.

"Hold on," He ground out.

"Giant!" Hogarth yelled desperately as they hit the earth hard.

Shadows cast over the two.

There were three blaring sets of six red eyes that were ready to blast themintentionally to dust. Hogarth was certain that blackness was about to envelop him when a lighter shadow fell over him and two metal hands came together to encompass him as they were attacked once more. Hogarth screamed his friend's name, but the onslaught of rapid blasts went on.

…

_'I have to protect him,'_ The Giant thought immediately, _'I have to be his protector…'_

…

He wasn't sure how much time had elapsed, only that Hogarth imagined it had been some hours as he found himself waking up and lying in an unnatural sort of position where his sore, bruised legs were thrown up on something solid and his stinging, scraped arms that oozed unshed blood were in odd, crossed angles over his ripped red-blue blazer. Grunting, the young man rose up and clutched at one particularly painful cut running down not far from where Kina's infliction with his knife had left a purple scar. He sucked in his breath and tasted a nasty, metallic bile in his mouth. Struggling, Hogarth rose to his aching feet.

"Giant!" He immediately called out. His hands cupped his mouth as he wet his chapped lips to try again more loudly, his throat stripped hoarse, "Giant!" '_Giant!' _his voice only reverberated off the large pieces of metal. "Metal," Hogarth mouthed in growing worry.

What he saw around him caused him to nearly fall back to the ground – from as far as he could see, all of the Giant's clones had been disbanded in vast wreckage by what to him looked to be an explosion. Shards of black quartz littered the ocean floor beside all of the remains of the now inactive robots. Hogarth gasped a little bit, feeling remorse for all of the lost robots. He now knew what the Giant had felt upon discovering all of the whales.

"GIANT!" Hogarth screamed throatily. "WHERE ARE YOU!"

"Ho-," Uttered a warbling, mechanized voice. It sounded like a radio on the fritz. "garth."

Hastily, he started down the maze of half-closed, lightless eyes that stared up at up like deadened headlights. Hogarth remembered running through the Maine forest to try and get to where Taylor had been at. He remembered the sneer on Gordon's face, and even after that when he had first seen the Giant again. Hogarth smiled a little as he hurried to where he knew his friend had survived. How could he have doubted him? His friend, in all of his right to be, was an indestructible hero. He probably was waiting down without one scratch or burn on him. He was probably waiting for Hogarth so that they could wait for Taylor (because Archer had shown up) and then return home together. It was all over.

"Giant?" He peered into the eyes of a still activated robot. "That you, buddy?"

The pair of eyes suddenly switched onto him, locking him with a laser-beam ready leer.

"Definitely not the Giant!" Hogarth ducked for cover and crept away. He stumbled over a few half-buried robot body parts, and did a swinging pivot with his hands over a big head when he laid his eyes on a severely ripped up Giant clone suspiciously rising up one arm.

He narrowed them.

All it took was for the robot to raise his head and look up at Hogarth looking down at him.

"Giant!"

"Hogarth…" He raised his damaged hand up towards him.

It wasn't unlike looking down at a child's favorite toy, broken and worn with age.

The young man took several stunned steps forward, and then fairly ran down to him even as the blockade of progressively-more-buried robot parts caused him to have to bob and weave to reach his destination. Hogarth kept on down the sharp decline and finally came to a half-hearted stop. He couldn't keep the shocked look off of his face, he had seen the Giant sporting weapons, color-coordinated metal suits, rock, missile marks and dents all around his iron body, but Hogarth had never seen the bare bones of what it really meant to be a giant robot – now he knew. The Giant was mangled, his wiring stuck out just like protruding intestines. He had chunks of metal missing and only part of his face was in –

"Hogarth." He managed to rise all the way up on his chest and cup Hogarth's back.

"_Giant!_" he touched the Giant's circuit-exposed fingers that cradled him at arm's length.

"You're still alive…" The relief in his voice was so devastating that Hogarth stiffened.

"God." He nearly sobbed. "God, Giant, I'm sorry… I'm so sorry!"

"You're alive; that's what matters." The Giant told Hogarth warmly, dismissing his state.

"You are too." He sighed tremblingly. "Giant… get up. Please. Just… try to stand up."

"My legs are gone, Hogarth." His voice crackled like it was about to short-circuit.

"Your repair signal…?"

"It won't work."

"Try?" Hogarth urged quietly. "Try, buddy. Please." He fought back the urge to scream.

The Giant gave him a hesitant look, lowered his head and tried to prop himself up on the nub of his handless arm. Hogarth encouraged a long the way, trying to keep himself from breaking down as he kept motivating the Giant who then came crashing back down with a resounding thud. He came up and laid his hand down on the robot's torn arm, trying to get him to keep going. The Giant inched his way up along the scrapped ground, grunting and moaning in suppressed pain as he tried to keep up with Hogarth. His struggle pierced Hogarth's heart, but he kept murmuring encouraging words. He tried to make him believe in himself no matter what. But the situation didn't help when they came to the first droid.

Hogarth turned unsurely to the robot's deactivated body, but the Giant gave him a clever look and used the downed clone as a metal wrung. He would have laughed at the morbid ingenuity of this makeshift ladder but reality kept him from doing so. Instead, he kept on giving the Giant reasons to keep going. They could use these metal parts to rebuild what was once Rockwell and use the rest to patch up the Giant's holed body. He gained more confidence at these ideas, thrusting himself up clone-by-black rock fragment. At a certain point Hogarth got to where he had to meander around these large objects, but they moved.

"Come on, Giant!" He called up excitedly as the Giant continued his gradual ascent.

"I'm trying," he responded with building steam.

"We'll find some place to rest, regroup; maybe you can have leftover clone parts…"

The robot gawked down at him.

"Oh, right: robotic cannibalism."

He sensed it, but he didn't react fast enough to see it.

"No!" The Giant roared and barely managed to corral Hogarth towards him with his arm.

A flying piece of debris flew down at the spot Hogarth had been at; they looked up as one at a vortex that was rippling to life within the realm of the ominous clouds above. It went in a jagged slant down its stormy front, like a kite with a rip down it Hogarth noted. What followed next was a series of flying robotic parts and pieces thrusting down at them with a tornado's fury. The Giant moved Hogarth just barely out of the way as a twisted piece of metal thrust down to the exposed part of his chest; he moved him further down under to his stomach with his remaining hand. There was an eerie silence followed by a breath.

It was a shaky, shuddering breath.

"I –," The Giant spoke, "I can't protect you." He said. It wasn't admitting defeat, it was –

"Giant!" Hogarth exclaimed in disbelief, moving back up after the gale had calmed.

It was giving up.

"You can't –,"

"I can't come with you," The Giant started falling back into the metal-strewn bone yard.

"Giant –!"

"I can't do anything anymore…" He buried his face into his broken arms.

"Giant," Hogarth rushed after him, finding the adrenaline to move quickly up the parts.

"Go home," The Giant muttered vaguely. "The portal's open, Hogarth. Go home now."

Hogarth stood stock-still; his eyes brimmed with emotion and his lips quivered.

"Is that what you want, Giant?" He choked out. "You really want me to leave you?"

A minute or so of heavy indecision wrought between them. Hogarth fidgeted nervously.

Finally, the Giant peered up at him with hopeless eyes, but he still spoke the truth. "No."

With a small, wavy smile, Hogarth started down to him if just to wait, if just to be there with him until the end. The robot reached his only remaining hand out and Hogarth took it, he raised his mandible in gratitude and Hogarth dropped his head as he sat down onto the ground clutching the fractured digits close to his heart and then – the portal opened.

…

Tress peered up inquisitively at the sky from the shelter of the tarp huts, rolling up the comic book and stuffing it into his pants like he had seen his brother do before Hogarth and the Giant left. He had been told by Archer to wait for him there, but now all he saw was a vast littering of robot parts scattered across the empty ocean far out in the distance.

"They were so loud," He muttered to himself, looking around nervously.

"Just loud enough." A familiar voice said behind him.

"Ven!"

The corn silk-blonde boy ran around the wooden structure and went up to hug his brother.

"I thought we told you to wait back at the Iceland base," Ven said.

Tress glimpsed up at him sheepishly. "Archer let me come."

"It's apparently been a disaster zone," Inx noted gravely, helping a bulging Taylor with Trina on the other side. "I would not be surprised if they did not survive this onslaught."

He felt the girl wilt.

"No," She whimpered.

Trina caught her and helped her back up, sending Inx a warning look, "We do not know this for certain, Taylor. We have to wait and see if they emerge. Look, the portal is going to open… or," She pressed her lips together and then said, "It is already open, my, look!"

They all did.

"It's time to go home," Daniel told Taylor as he finally came up from talking with Trisha.

"And that will mean going home and not being with Hogarth." She explained to her.

Taylor shuddered in between her friend's hold and nodded. "All right."

She was going to go into rapid labor because of Pygmy's cybernetic cyborg genes.

What else could she do?

…

Hogarth strained to look over his shoulder, bared his teeth and looked down at the Giant.

"We can't just give up, pal." He said grittily. "Not after coming so got damn far!"

To be continued…


	66. Striking the Iron hot pt 2 of 2

**I. **- _Part Two._

"Hogarth," The Giant said in aghast. Couldn't he see the obvious?

"Giant listen to me..."

But the automaton simply lowered his head and purposely moved himself down into the iron scraped rubble. Hogarth stood there in complete astonishment, watching all of this occur. There were so many times he had wanted to give up, there were so many times that he had given his friends grieve, the sudden rise of passion from his gut to his chest made him heave in furious breaths and hurl himself swiftly down the mounds of metals.

"Iron Giant, LISTEN!" Hogarth shouted ravingly.

His righteous rage made the Giant stop cold.

The man's blue eyes blared with the intensity that he felt inside. "IG, don't you get it by now!.? I don't _care _if you can protect me or not. I don't care what your made of or what you can do for me." He moved closer, concentrating on his slow advancement. "I don't even care if you're _Superman!_ Because you're not..." Hogarth rested his hands on the Giant's torn metal arm. "You're not Superman. You're not Atomo. You're... my brother."

"Hogarth?" He uttered shakily.

"You are the _Iron Giant. _The first and only. And I'm _Hogarth_. And Taylor's _Taylor."_

The Giant just watched him and listened.

"There's nothing wrong with who we are. We should choose to be ourselves!"

He lowered his head at Hogarth's words, still unconvinced.

"It doesn't matter if you can transmute," He continued talking, lowering his head down as the strength of the portal behind them increased, "It doesn't matter what color you are or how many lives you save. All that matters," Hogarth pressed his cheek upon a place that didn't have a hole blown through it, "is that we're together." Tears glided down his other.

"You can't be me either, Hogarth." a deep voice finally said to him.

The pressure kept building and a more forceful gale ripped out. The Giant was ready this time to do something about this; when he saw Hogarth move behind a deactivated droid and give him a look that he was all right about holding his own. As the gale smoothed to a cool, balmy current of air, the Giant remembered something he had learned long before.

"Hogarth," He turned to the man as he walked out.

"I meant what I said." he wiped at his eyes. "I won't let you die a quitter."

"No!" The Giant shook his head impatiently. "Remember what my clones were made for?"

"Yes," Hogarth rubbed his neck.

"Hogarth, that's the opposite of what we do."

"You have an idea, pal?" His eyebrows rose inqusitively.

The robot nodded his half-there face excitedly. "You can transmute me..."

Hogarth nodded back.

"What if _I _transmute _you_?"

The Giant's words caught him off guard. There was a crash above and they both looked up to see that a figure was moving toward the portal, ready to enter the expanding swatch of jagged purple forming in the clouds. Hogarth thought for a few brief, tense moments about the Giant's idea, and then turned to him with a nod. "It's worth a go, pal." he gave a smile.

"It's all worth it." He replied, reassured, giving one back. The Giant now hooked his arm on a gigantic arch of clone arms and snagged his remaining hand off with the crook belonging to his left arm. Hogarth watched with growing anticipation as the Giant then tapped along his remaining iron forehead, and then tapped his heart. He met Hogarth's adamant gaze.

"There... ready?" He rose up on his arm nubs. The hand was placed behind the man.

"Yes." Hogarth said, swinging his leg over and latching himself on tight. "I'm ready, Giant."

A loud _kaboom! _noise erupted and the figure they were sure was Kina neared the top.

"Hogarth, go!" The Giant instructed austerely.

He held on as the hand went to work at climbing its way through the tower of iron and rock.

The robot watched after him; his eyes wide with wonder and intrigue at Hogarth's words.

"_You're not Superman... you're my brother."_

His shutters swiveled inwards from all four corners. "You're my brother, too."

A hand suddenly found his busted arm. The Giant was about to pull away like an animal that had it's limb caught, when he saw that the now-reactivated, one-armed clone was operated by a Robocity droid that was back to it's original pale-orange covered metal skin, working the clone's controls from it's place at the back. Another hand found the Giant's mangled right arm and he saw that another, this time two-handed clone had been hijacked by a Robocity droid as well. He raised his mandible in a smile of disbelief. The once lifeless clones were together performing a final feat of redemption; with all of the Robocity robots at their controls to help.

The Giant looked down unsurely for a moment... if they did this he could go back through the portal with Hogarth, and he still would be in disrepair. Remembering that it did not matter to Hogarth either way; and that he had no choice; the Giant allowed them to lift himself upward.

**II.** _- Hogarth's confrontion..._

He was almost certain that the Giant's idea wouldn't work; Hogarth knew that although all of the clones had come from the Giant, the Giant _himself _had not been programmed originally to become a cyborg. He had been made; Hogarth rolled his eyes; for asteroid interception. What he didn't know is if the Giant had been thrashed around on the head too many times. Was it enough to _will _transmutation if you were a robot? The Giant couldn't just _will _his weapons out of himself, but Hogarth could will transmutation. He was the founder of it. It was like all of the other scientists who hadn't meant to discover their findings. But then Hogarth glanced down.

"My God." He whispered in disbelief. "Good God!"

Hogarth felt like knocking himself out cold. The Giant's metal was beginning to crawl over his exposed left arm like vines slowly making their way towards their victim. His lower jaw jittered as the coolly binding, blue-turned substance began seeping up his left pants leg. The liquified state incased only his left arm and leg, and seemed to mold itself in a peculiar custom so as to accommodate his joints, muscles and ligaments. Hogarth grinned widely, it was truly working!

His memory of seeing Kina was the only thing that made him hold back.

"Hogarth," He heard someone say raspily.

The man flinched back a little but prepared himself as the hand had totally consumed half of his body. He climbed his way to the top, feeling the pull and strain as the metal solidifed. As soon as he reached a cliff of black stone, Hogarth saw her. She flipped her greasy black hairs out of her face, giving him a glassy-eyed look from her startling green eyes. They resembled her father's in shape, but in warmth and reassurance they were terribly absent. Kina moved but then she didn't. It was the golden skin that she had raped from Gold. Hogarth glowered:

"How is this not surprising?" He said emotionlessly.

"I never wanted this Hogarth..." A slight mist filled her eye. "_Please," _she croaked,"Help me."

"You..." Hogarth raised his untouched iron arm. "You took _everything _away from me!"

Kina fell to her knee, sobbing cold sobs.

"You lost what little family you had, and in the process made me lose mine." Hogarth clenched his real hand into a fist and noticed in amazement that the five-fingered ironed hand clenched as well. "You don't deserve mercy, Kina." he raised his hand high in the air. "I'm not giving it!"

He willed that his hand turn into a weapon - any weapon. Wrinkling his face, he brought it down to Kina's half-exposed throat and felt himself go upright. What Hogarth saw before him wasn't a gun of any sort. It was a sword - a great, steampunk-looking machine inches from inflicting harm on the defenseless woman. The man turned his eyes slightly and saw that the orange eye that belonged to Gold; an eye that definitely didn't have Gold's soul; watched him as if waiting for him to strike. _It _wanted this opprotunity and _it _wanted someone else to do it.

Hogarth looked at a trembling Kina. "I'm sorry," she cried. "I'm sorry Hogarth... please, mercy."

He felt himself tremble as well and, turning his eyes away, swung his weapon aside. "Why?"

"I didn't want to hurt my father."

"At least you still have one."

"It doesn't matter anyways..."

There was a sudden blitz of power that struck Kina as a tsunami-size wind giving off a large, engulfing magnetic sort of pull caused Hogarth's large weaponized metal arm to scrap back against the stone cliff. He started to panic and jammed the stone into the ground, realizing it was very unlikely King Aruther was going to come along, Hogarth breathed sharply and thrust it deeper into the black earth wedged between two clone parts to hold him steady. Kina was releasing cries of pain, and he turned to watch in horror as the golden metal drifted off of her.

"Kina!" Hogarth exclaimed.

"Please," She gasped her final few breaths, "Please say I'm forgiven."

He stood close to the ironed hilt of the sword, tears staining his cheeks. "You're forgiven."

Kina smiled at the corner of her mouth as her paste-white skin began to wilt.

Hogarth squeezed his eyes shut and turned away. When he looked back he saw the last thing he expected to see: "It had to be done, Hogarth," She said seriously, "Humans and droids are not meant to be this close... except for you and the Giant." Hogarth's mouth fell agape in awe.

"You didn't have to be like the Giant, Gold." He said sorrowfully. "You didn't have to do this."

"You are a good friend to him, Hogarth." She assured him, "As you were to me..."

The man covered his face with his real hand, he couldn't believe he was going to lose another.

"You know he's loves you."

"And he should know I love him... goodbye, Hogarth. Thank you."

Her half-shelled body filtered up into the air in a dust of gilded particles.

"NO!" He shouted huskily into the air, his throat and heart throbbing in pain. "NO! NO! NO!"

Before he could act any further, it was revealed to an already shaken Hogarth that the metal hadn't stopped with his left side. He watched it as it began to engulf him across his blazer and his pants. Hogarth was sure that he was about to be consumed, and he realized then that the portal was attracted to his iron composition. The man wrestled around, he tried to resist it in a great amount of effort, but found himself being dragged head first into the vortex in his battle.

"NO-NO-NO-NO-N-." It suddenly paused before it filmed over his nose and mouth. "W-what?"

Hogarth turned and felt a wave of exhuberance fill his aching chest. A pair of beaming lit white eyes smiled down at him. He smiled back, his own filling with joy and relief. The Giant had taken Hogarth's ironed arm in between two fingers that were not his own, and was stopping the flow of metal from engulfing him. As the portal raged like a storm ready to erupt, the Giant appeared ready to confront the enormous onset of air thrusts when the metal that had been progressing over Hogarth turned blue. They looked down and saw that _all _of the clones were radiating with a brilliant sapphire glimmer. Hogarth held still as his and their metals began to fly up and over to where the Giant looked from side-to-side; the iron consumed him in blinding light. Exchanging a couple of excited looks, the Giant gathered Hogarth up in his reformed hands and flew on down.

"I knew I was in good hands!" Hogarth laughed loudly as they were jetting backwards.

"The dream team." The Giant agreed, his iron metal restored and without a mark or dent.

Below a crowd; including a rather tall onlooker, waited for them both.

To be continued...


	67. Never alone, never abadoned: Pt 1 of 2

**I.**

"It's them, isn't it?"

The Giant gave him an amused look. "Who else could make a droid like me?"

An enormous light-purple robot with plum overtones watched them casually as the two of them faced forward and went for a smooth, turnabout landing a ways away from the little crowd. The Giant, paneled over with rather unattractive but functional patchwork iron, let Hogarth gather his wits before moving closer. He smiled at them all and bent downwards.

Hogarth didn't know what to say – let alone do. The sprightly teenager who had snuck on their trip almost a year ago was no more. Who the cropped copper haired, ripped clothing and bruise and cut covered man saw before him was a tired, overworked young woman in her late teens. He didn't notice that the Giant had set him down, or that he had made only slow, gradual steps towards her. "Taylor… you," he reacted unsurely, "You look, um…"

"I missed you too." A familiar smile formed across her small lips.

…

Taylor stopped short when Hogarth's eyes made their inevitable trip down to her tummy.

"Hogarth, I can explain. It happened because Pygmy had been designed to –, " Her words were lost as he took her in his arms and held her maternity-jumpsuit bulge in a snug hold.

No one said or did anything – except Trisha who tried to muster a smile, Inx who looked over some holographic files and Daniel who was staring pensively up at the thunder-bolt shaped portal in the sky. Hogarth held the woman he loved closely to him, he rocked her still small, fragile body in his arms quietly, assuring her that he had loved and missed her.

"All it takes is for me to think about you," He looked down at her, tears in his blue eyes.

"Hogarth," Taylor smiled widely now, tears in her light brown ones as well. She reached up to touch his cheek, and he touched her hand. "I love you," She hugged him to her now.

"I love you too." He said solemnly, kissing her forehead with a man's strong, firm lips.

"Did you miss us too?" Tress spoke up.

Hogarth turned to everyone else. "I've missed you guys too." He eyed down with a wink.

"I am sure." Inx said with a half-smile, also turning to eye the eight-year-old.

"We missed you, Garth." Ven admitted, ruffling his brother's hair.

"I know I missed you." Taylor wiped her eyes and walked into the Giant's inviting hand.

Hogarth gave his best friends a glad grin and then turned to look at the forty-foot-tall robot that stared down at him with great interest in her wide, golden eyes. As Archer went over calculations and such with everyone (most mildly interested) and Taylor drilled the Giant excitedly for important details on their adventure, Hogarth was enraptured in the droid he had carried around in his jacket pocket for eight months. The creature kept a close eye on him as he circled around her feet in an entrancement, like she had done in her orbed state.

"Pygmy?" Hogarth said tentatively.

"Hogarth!" She said in a sort of squeal of delight.

Everyone turned to look at them in surprise.

He felt like a wide grin had been engraved on his face.

"I guess you remember me, kiddo."

Pygmy looked up at Taylor in the Giant's hand a moment and copied what he had done.

Hogarth met her excited eyes and stepped up into her open hand. When they went to full height, Hogarth saw that Pygmy was a good ten or so feet below the Giant's height. The Giant himself was having some real difficulty knowing how to act towards his _daughter. _

"Pygmy," Taylor motioned towards him, "Papa. Papa," she smiled calmly, "daughter."

"Taylor!" Hogarth nearly hissed at her through his teeth.

The woman gave him a knowing look that said 'You were going to do it anyways.'

"Giant?" He turned to his friend seriously. "It's your call."

"What do you want her to mean to you?" Taylor asked.

The Giant leveled his large white eyes with hers and she tilted her lavender astrodome – shaped head back to take him in more, "Giant," she said in a sort of soft, appealing way.

He narrowed his shutters appraisingly and raised his hand out with Taylor in it just shy of a foot from hers. Hogarth smirked good-naturedly at him, and laced his fingers in through Taylor's. Pygmy blinked once and slid hers in with the Giant's. He took a step back at the display of obvious affection, confused about what to do. Hogarth motioned for Pygmy to place him down on the ground, and the Giant did so also with Taylor's asking. They both gave the '50-foot robot encouraging looks as when he had tried to get them to admit their affections for one another. Softness entered his big eyes and replaced his massive doubts.

"Pygmy." He said.

"Giant," She confirmed simply.

Then, resembling elephants affectionately hugging one another with their trunks, the two raised their large metal arms and caught one another in an embrace. Taylor's own mother suddenly started crying as they both went into each other's arms fully. Hogarth shook his head to keep his emotions under control, holding a joyfully teary-eyed Taylor beside him.

"God, it's beautiful," She breathed.

"Yeah," Hogarth rubbed at his eyes with his thumb, "It really is."

"Hogarth," A hand found his free shoulder. "You and the Giant must know that several of his clones got through the portal." Archer said with urgency. "You must return quickly..."

"But – but, no!" He argued in confusion, "I mean, the Giant stopped them. They're not –"

"Three are still alive." The older man warned him, "And he must get you back."

"And the rest of us?" Taylor asked.

"Since Pygmy carries the Giant's genes, you'll return with her." Daniel answered.

"Barnes," Hogarth suddenly got in his face, angering quickly. "I'm getting tired of you frigging ordering us around like this!" The man got down in his face just as quickly then.

"You'd be surprised who you're talking _down_ to, Mr. Hughes," He huffed dangerously.

"Hogarth," The Giant said in surprise.

"I'm sorry," He turned and spoke to his friends sincerely, "But this is _our _family," he let his hand gesture to Inx, Trina, Ven and the others. "What would someone who _lied _about my mother's fate have anything to contribute to it?" Hogarth asked in an offended voice.

"You'd be wise not to tempt me further, boy." Daniel snapped.

"Afraid I'll uncover a bigger truth?"

"I'm warning you…"

"Hogarth, stop." Taylor pleaded with him. "Mr. Barnes is on our side, you know that!"

"Hogarth?" Pygmy inquired at his brashness.

"I'm sorry, babe." He apologized to her and stepped up to confront the man.

"You won't back down, will you?" Daniel took another condescending step forward.

"No, sir. I'm defiant and I'm always going to be that way."

Something in the larger man's brown eyes changed. "You know your father's last name?"

"Curtis. My father decided to change his to my mother's maiden name."

"Why?"

"To honor my mother's father." Hogarth said between clenching teeth.

"And your father's family?"

"I never met them."

"Do you know why, Mr. Hughes?"

"Because they were working undercover in the service – like my father."

"What was your father's father's name?"

"I…" He massaged his messy auburn hair. "I don't know."

"Are you sure?" Daniel raised a shaggy silver-brown eyebrow.

"Why does it even matter to you?"

"You'd be surprised."

"Hell if it would! Now answer my question, sir, why does this really matter to you!"

Daniel stepped back, pulled out a paper from his jumpsuit pocket and opened it up.

"And that would be…?" Hogarth's eye caught the sight of a birth certificate.

"My real name, Hogarth, is Johnston Daniel Curtis. I introduced your mama to your pop back in 1947… don't remember if your mama remembered, I'd gained so much weight."

Hogarth took an awkward step back, staring at him with open shock.

"There is a technique you two must know before you enter that portal if you're going to have a chance at stopping the rest of the clones," Archer said as if nothing had happened.

"What's it called, Mr. Gungatung?" Hogarth asked without a single shift in tone.

"The Space Dragon."

To be continued…


	68. Never alone, never abadoned: Pt 2 of 2

**I. **

"It's like Frix-ball!" Tress said with glee after the top Scientist in droids finished talking.

"Well," Hogarth slugged him on the arm, "It might be a little more complicated then that. Frix ball was fun for the reigning champs," he grinned in the direction of Ven, and then at the Giant – both of whom gave him a pretend glare. "This sounds like the major leagues."

Archer sighed softly, "Please do not doubt my word. Have I led you astray thus far?"

"Sir," the younger man looked over at him, "First I find out that the Giant can transmute me… among other things," he switched his eyes over to a stone-faced Daniel. "And now you're telling me we have to use this technique to stop these three clones. Sir, I don't –,"

"Hogarth," Tress walked up to him.

"Tress." He bent down and looked the boy straight in the eyes.

They looked at each other for a long moment as the groan of the portal reaching a higher level of power began to rip apart the otherwise cloud-filled sky, but even as this happened no one took their eyes off of Hogarth and Tress. Finally, with a deep breath, Hogarth took the boy in his arms and held him close. Taylor stepped into the Giant's open hands, Tress in tow, and he lifted the three of them as he stood. But what surprised Hogarth was when he ushered him and Taylor off to Pygmy, and only kept Tress in his hands standing there.

"Giant?" the boy asked.

A deep emotion that Hogarth recognized entered his best friend's white eyes; he felt that same pang of agony touch his heart in remembering that look. His shoulders began giving shudders and his throat became so clenched with thick heartache that it took him all of his might and all of Taylor's strength when she grasped his hand not to collapse and just sob.

"It's okay," her familiar voice soothed his trembling frame, "It's okay, cry if you need."

Hogarth grabbed her other hand and kept his eyes trained to Pygmy's hands.

"Hogarth?" Pygmy asked worriedly.

"Tress," The Giant said in a calm voice, "We've had some good times, right?"

He nodded slowly.

"And you know I would never do anything to hurt you."

"Giant." Taylor said warily, concerned where he was going.

"Of course not," He smiled but his eyes looked confused, "Maybe a long time ago, but..."

"_Giant_."

"All I want is for you to think of those times, and not get mad or regret the others."

A look of understanding lighted his cloud-colored eyes, "Only the good times." he agreed.

Hogarth looked up in surprise and the Giant turned to him.

"I'm sorry," The man mouthed and then got stuck on his whisper. "I'm_ sorry_."

And he then sadly regretted any of his dwellings on the bad times.

"Don't." The robot said to him. "I just don't..."

"Gentlemen," Archer came up to them, intercepting, "It has been a totally remarkable time having you here... Giant," he turned directly sideways,"_Hogarth_, you will be missed. But it is time." his emerald eyes and voice reflected his great worry, "You must leave now. Please."

"You're right," Hogarth pulled Taylor next to him and rested her suddenly limp body against his own, "Thank you, Archer. Ven, Inx, Trina... Miss Evans, thank you all for helping us out."

They gave him appreciative looks of their own - even Daniel Barnes gave him a small smile.

"Thank you, Hogarth, for loving my baby girl." Trisha told him, her hands clasped together.

"And I'm sorry for-."

"Sweetheart," She cut him off. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You're a handsome, kind - hearted young man. A little rough-edged, but your dear mother would be so proud of you."

He felt his eyes fill. "Thank you, ma'am. That means a lot."

"Hogarth," The Giant started gently, holding out his hand as Pygmy lowered them down.

"Good-bye Giant." Tress said quietly.

"Good-bye... the Tresser." He lifted his mandible up.

The boy grinned and ran back to stand by his brother.

...

Taylor walked up to them, no longer feeling entirely uncomfortable under her best friends' scrutiny. Hogarth turned to her and reigned her close to him by taking her wrists. He smiled as he pulled her protruding self up effortlessly, his arms bulging a bit through his ripped off sleeves as she met his chest and the top of her thick hair went under his chin. They rested that way half a minute, Hogarth holding her abdomen and taking slow, measured breaths.

"I love you," He said. "I honestly and wholly do... and, and I'm going to be there Taylor."

"Hogarth-." She started, remembering what her mother and Daniel had said about that.

"Taylor," The Giant's voice intervened and his fingers caressed the side of her cheek. "You knew it wouldn't be possible," he told her, "But you know we love you." His eyes stressed.

"I know." She held his hand close to her for a moment, kissed it and let it go. "I wish..."

"Maybe we will be together," Hogarth smiled at her endearingly, "Fate brought us together once and it sure as fire could do it again... I love you, baby." Taylor shuddered as his hand cradled the side of her face the Giant had touched, and went in fully when he offered over his lips to her. Hogarth and Taylor went in deep at the same time - no one protested once.

"Take care of one another," She clasped his hand as the Giant slowly pulled away.

"You know we will." Hogarth winked. The Giant smiled at her, his shutters going up a bit.

"And we will always be a family." He affirmed as he started standing up to full height.

"And you both will _always_ be my boys," Taylor said as her mother and Daniel flanked her.

"Hogarth," The man barked.

"Dan?"

"Good luck, son." He gave his grandson a salute up at his right, creased temple and then swung his arm down precisely. Hogarth's eyes widened as he realized who the man was.

"Sir?" He responded, not unlike a private to a general.

"Johnny would have been proud of you as well." A look of true emotion filled his old face.

The seventeen-year-old smiled warmly and gave his grandfather an earnest salute back, his eyes and heart filled with respect and honor. Taylor raised her hand, waving at them.

"We all love you both."

"We love you too." The Giant told her.

"All of you." Hogarth added firmly to the depressed eyes watching them leave once more.

...

The two men turned to look at each other. It was like a moment carved from time and then transplanted to right now, it was a future they were never suppose to have shared together but in some extremely complicated twist of fate had. The Giant cocked his head with Hogarth standing in his hands - Hogarth himself watching him with deep meaning. Words were not needed. They both knew what they were getting themselves into. This was the final voyage.

... ... ... ... ...

But that didn't stop Hogarth from saying them.

"We could die."

The Giant turned his hands inward.

He did not say 'I will protect you with my life', that would be far too obvious a thing to say.

"You won't be going in there alone." Hogarth mentioned.

Again, the Giant didn't say whether he opposed the idea or did not.

"But I think I knew what your doing."

The heaters on the Giant's iron heels began to disperse their rocket fuel cells.

"I'm letting you choose to go or not." He finally said - much to the disapproval of Archer.

"What!.?" The man exclaimed. "It is no longer optional!"

This time, however, the Giant ignored him completely. When Hogarth turned to look over his shoulder nervously at the man, the iron automaton shifted the sockets in his wrists around so that Hogarth was facing him. He made it clear to Hogarth that this matter was their own.

"I would never take you back without your permission."

A brilliant grin spread across his face. "And I would never choose any other way of going."

"That's a yes?" The Giant asked without humor in his baritone voice. "You want to go?"

"I want to go." Hogarth said at last. He knew no additional explanation was needed.

It was point-blank.

The solemness of the situation spiked without warning and Hogarth braced himself; it was an instinct of finality that crippled any more resolve to hold onto a place Hogarth had never belonged to and never would. Now, the time had come for the man to return to where his mother and father had birthed him. He wasn't alone and he knew that he was not about to be abandoned by his brother, but Hogarth knew that if they survived he would have to be.

To be continued...


	69. In the surrender: Pt 1 of 3

**A/n: **Here we go, folks. :( We're nearing the end. -_- But we've still got stuff to give. ;)

- "_If,_" the man continued to speak haughtily, "There's always the 'if'." -

**I.**

"Daddy?"

The little girl's voice was tightened with fear.

"Yes, dear." Dean said in a hush, reminding his daughter to speak that way as well.

"If I said I'm scared," her voice dropped, "would that be okay?"

"Peaches Julianne McCoppin, afraid?" Gordon laughed deeply, not hiding his amusement even at the other town folks' glares as he was lowered down the crippled child. "That's a real hooter," he winked and made room for her father to slip into the underground shelter.

"Let's not make jokes," the mayor interceded. "The last time this happened the fair town of Rockwell wasn't prepared. And… my car was stolen." Robert Evans was fairly unhappy.

"The last time _anything_ happened to your fair town, a boy lost his only friend."

Dean sent the mayor a strong look. "And you did commission the monument."

"Do you believe that makes us care any less?" A large woman confronted the sculptor.

The man frowned. "I just meant-,"

"He means as much to us as he did to Hogarth," One of Hogarth's old biker friends came and insisted. "I mean," he grinned, "Without him, Michael and I would've been goners."

The boy named Michael came up and clapped his left shoulder, grinning back.

"Right, Mike?" the first one asked.

"Right Bill."

Miss Rhinestein sighed haggardly as she ushered the two cocky kids back and helped the even more haggard Dean McCoppin seal the wooden door shut, glimpsing the outside of the park with it's water fountain and robot statue just once and then shutting it in tightly.

"Dean," She said as dank darkness surrounded them and overhead lamps strung along the tunnel lit an extended space for the town to take refuge, "Don't be too hard on him."

"I'm use to knuckleheads, Beth." He offered a half-hearted smile. "No need to preach."

"I meant Hogarth, Dean." The lady reiterated. His half-heartedness turned disheartened.

**II. **– Into the final fray…

The flight was in silence, but the temptation to speak was strong on Hogarth's part. Part of him wanted to be in hero-mode just as much as the Giant was capable of, but the other wanted his friend. It wasn't often that the alter-ego of the ultimate superhero seeped into the Giant, but Hogarth knew – with a pang of regret – that he had caused the poor robot a patriotic complex. _I told him he could be himself… is, _Hogarth grimaced, _is this who is he?_

If this super-powered personality was the Giant's true self, and if this was who was going to be with him until the last moment of this journey, than Hogarth didn't know if he could stand it anymore. The transmuted Giant, as if sensing his deep worry, said to him stolidly:

"This isn't an easy choice, Hogarth."

He gripped the controls he didn't have 'control' of. "I just can't compare to you Giant."

His face, strobing in blue, automatically appeared on the panel.

"_Hogarth," _He said in aghast.

This made the man reel back in surprise.

The Giant shook his head, "I don't want you to be like me. You should be you."

There was a heart-wrenching moment then where tears clouded Hogarth's eyes.

"I want you to be yourself too, IG." He smiled miserably, "I want you to come with me."

Another moment dragged by. "I want that too," The Giant said tightly, holding his eyes.

"So come back with me," Hogarth's smile went from grim to hope, "Come home. It-it'd be good for the world. You're different, I'm different. We could help the world to see that -,"

"Hogarth." He stopped him there.

"Giant, _please_." The pleading in his voice barely stifled his cries, "I need you. Do you?"

"Do I what?"

He looked away, shaking his head.

"Hogarth. Tell me."

"Do you –," the abruptly boy-turned Hogarth looked back up, breathing hard, "need me?"

As the onset of the three clones came upon the pair fast, they both kept their somber eyes intertwined with one another's. The Giant slowly hatched back a small panel and raised an ironed hand out. Hogarth did not look down as it climbed over inch-by-inch before finally it came to rest on his shoulder, comforting him but trying to also keep his attention. But that wasn't necessary; Hogarth found the necessary courage to keep his gaze with the Giant's. But in their suddenly short time together, Hogarth couldn't find the courage to face his fate.

…

"What's happening?" Taylor asked, uncertain.

"The portal's reaching us," Archer said simply.

They all suddenly huddled around each other.

"Mama," the suddenly-fear-rendered girl turned to her mother.

"It's almost over, baby." Trisha assured her, taking her daughter in her arms.

Archer stepped forward with a certain look, Taylor noted. While Inx pulled Trina in close to him and Ven put a protective arm around Tress, the daughterless, wifeless man was in the process of being the first to move to greet the oncoming tidal wave of the Time as it rushed down from the sky cracked around in deep swirls of purple. She raised her hand out to him.

"Archer!" Taylor cried out, panicked.

But the man only lifted his arms as if ready to be liberated and was consumed in a quick downpour of dark magenta. Her mother held her closely as a sudden presence bore down on them. Taylor glimpsed up, feeling the contractions in her stomach that made it hard to keep standing, and she saw that Pygmy peered through her shutter creased eyes. Amber beams emitted warmth and care as the droid placed her finger upon Taylor's stomach. In a few painless bouts of movement fits, the unborn baby stopped struggling. Both the women gasped – it was as if Pygmy had _told _him or her not to come out yet. They were speechless.

"It's okay." She said happily.

When Taylor and Trisha looked back around, the force of what felt like a complete out-of –body experience consumed them. They looked down and Taylor noticed that a wobbling outline of her self was emitting visually from her – as well as her mother. This very weird aura of sorts was coming from them all, and it felt like reality was pulling away now at a blinding speed. Light years, Taylor felt, could be passing them by now. Everyone gave a loud, reverberating shriek at the unfathomable speeds they were going at. Taylor and the rest of them were then sprung into some different dimension of Time and Space together.

…

"I'm going to undo the transmutation," the Giant spoke.

"All right," Hogarth replied, expressionless.

"If I'm able to come back-."

"_If,_" the man continued to speak haughtily, "There's always the 'if'."

"I'm sorry, Hogarth."

"I know, pal. You've saved my ass a thousand times over; this'll be a thousand and one."

The Giant hesitated from doing this, even as they rounded the front of the three clones.

Hogarth's mood cooled at his friend's distress. "I'm not mad at you Giant," he breathed.

"You want to be…"

"I just want to see the face of my best friend this time, not someone else."

The Giant smiled. "I'm coming back. I promised you."

"How?" Hogarth asked, suddenly blown away.

"After this." He said and let the IG double H T-bird Supe-da-coup dissolve away.

In a shower of blue sparks, Hogarth and the Giant were freed from their sudden and in a way inexplicable constraint of transmutation. Hurtling forward, the robot interlocked on a trio of uniform clones emotionlessly catapulting forward toward the end of the long links of portal. Hogarth tried to raise his hands to hinder them, not wanting them to meet a timely demise but one look up at the Giant let him know that they could not be reasoned with. In a flash of inspiration, the Giant performed the forehead to heart execution and as the blue light swarmed around from his hand, Hogarth's dark outline appeared from within the great source and motioned for him to toss him. The Giant hesitated as they drew nearer to fate.

"Trust me," his human counterpart said with his face only a shadow in the brilliant blaze.

"Always."

With that, the Giant reared back as one would do during a Frix game and with a pivot of his lower body, he sent Hogarth speeding forward and in a full-headed collision with the other robots. But the Giant, suddenly realizing what he had done, rose out his iron hand in vain.

"HOGARTH!"

The power from the collision had enough driving force to jolt even _him _back. He was at a lost for words, his shutters curved inwards as he haplessly picked around at the scattering pieces of floating metal debris – Hogarth was nowhere to be found in all of the scrapings.

"No." He buried his face in his hands. "No."

"Giant –," a weak voice called out to him.

Amazed, the robot looked over and saw the man was deformed on one side of his body from an apparent lack of oxygen. But even as the Giant tried searching for Hogarth's air-filling suit, he was told to leave it alone. They looked over longingly in the space between them, time and forevermore expanding before them. Hogarth reached out his still normal-looking hand, his somehow skeletal, crippled left arm cradled crookedly against his chest.

The Giant offered a gentle smile and reached out his patchwork hand. Hogarth grasped at the finger tip, breathing slowly from the part of his lips that weren't shriveled. Oddly, the two of them both seemed to take notice, the part of Hogarth's body that was in a peculiar mangled state was the exact opposite side of when the Giant's half body had been totaled.

"I'm not mad, Giant." The man said peacefully. "You're coming back with me anyway."

He didn't say anything, but continued to look at him.

A shift in the air current caused Hogarth to start gasping for breath.

The Giant turned concerned, but still couldn't find anything to say right then.

"I'll see you on the other side, buddy." A smile smoothed his purple-turning lips.

"That's right, Hogarth." The Iron Giant answered, smiling back, "I'll see you there."

In a hard-taken breath, he passed out in his friend's now encompassing hands. Profoundly the Giant looked him over one final time and gave an audible breath as he made a sphere around the unconscious Hogarth. When he looked up a flash of white light met his eyes. It dawned on him now – this was the exit. The Giant winced at the thought of giving him up now. But when he looked down, he saw to his befuddlement that a bigger oddity was on the brink of occurring – Hogarth was aging on one side of his body, his arm was becoming a thinning and brittle bone and the rest of his skin was webbing in wrinkles exactly like –:

"Kina," the Giant spoke in shock.

He looked once more at Hogarth with excruciating indecision. There was no longer time; the longer Hogarth remained with him the older and weaker he would get. The Iron Giant could be in any time, in any condition and without needing water or air. And then Hogarth for all the endurance and effort he made to try to make things work out, could no longer be in his company safely. The Giant was a robot, Hogarth was a human being and he knew that no matter how long he lived or if he would ever die, the Giant could never love anyone else as much as he loved his dearest friend. Moving his arms down and bracing himself for a clear shot at the oncoming light, the Giant stared forward determinedly and in one instant pivot counterclockwise of his torso, he was able to toss the concrete - strong orb like a baseball.

"Good-bye," His words were soft, emotional, "I'm sorry, Hogarth."

And with one last longing look over his shoulder, the Giant jetted back.

_"Good-bye." _The words echoed like a wavering ghost in the air, _"Hogarth… Hogarth…"_

"G-i-a-n-t," the man breathed his final breath of air.

…

Taylor was aware of someone in front of her. He breathed in slow and measured breaths. When the young woman looked up, a face that greatly resembled Hogarth's stood right in front of her. She lit up but when his eyes – eyes that looked like the sclera had decided to invade all reaches of the socket – looked down at her, Taylor was shocked to see that her stomach was flat as a board. A pang of grief struck her as she felt around, missing all the sensations that came with motherhood no matter how rapid. However, the presence that stood before her made her hold his gaze. The man's eyes were wide, like an awed child's.

"Giant?" she whispered.

"Taylor," He spoke clearly, looking freed and happier then she had ever seen him.

Trusting him, Taylor reached down from the blur of white that enveloped them and took up a stone in her hand. He reached out to take it and a look of surprise penetrated his now metal – free skin. Taylor smiled as he grinned over excitedly, handling it over and over. With a sudden fixation, the Giant started to flip the stone up in his hand while taking just several seconds each time to thumb across its flat smoothness. Eventually he gave it back to a now also grinning Taylor, and began examining his clothed body before meeting her eyes again.

They caught themselves staring at each other.

"Where's Hogarth?" Taylor asked him, despite the fact that his body stood before her.

"Back in his own time." The Giant answered – his deep but not gravelly voice still there.

"You could come back with us," She said solemnly, tracing her fingers along his cheek in an absentminded manner. He did not say a word as he experienced her touch. "Can you feel?"

"Not hard."

"Soft," Taylor corrected with a smile.

_"Soft," _the Giant repeated, an unfamiliar look touching his face.

"Giant," He looked up as she kept talking, "Are you sure this is what you have to do?"

The Giant nodded. Taylor hesitated, feeling a twinge of guilt, but slowly rose on her toes and got within a few inches of his face. There was a sudden change to her attitude, and in that moment Taylor couldn't believe how she was acting. It was like a magnetic force had taken over her good judgment and she was enraptured with a kind of forbidden intrigue in her. "Why don't you stay?" a hint of allure found into her voice pitch, "Somehow we can–,"

"Taylor." He said in surprise, touching her shoulder and backing away.

She caught herself and pulled back in shame. "I lied." Her breath was heavy. "I lied."

The Giant would have asked what she meant, but the truth dawned on him.

"It's Hogarth _and_ you," Taylor breathed fast, "I'm sorry, Giant. I couldn't help myself."

But he caught her chin and beckoned her gently to meet his eyes.

She was afraid he was going to make her decide, but he only kept her gaze in his familiar way, "If I went back with you, human or not, I would eventually become one of you. Not right away, Taylor." He spoke patiently. "But eventually I would lose that part you love."

"I know." Taylor said. "That's what makes me the most afraid."

The Giant smiled, not unlike Pygmy might. "Don't be afraid," he told her.

Slowly, he leaned in with her chin still resting in his hand.

"I'll miss you," were his final words and he pressed his lips to hers.

To be continued…


	70. In the surrender: Pt 2 of 3

**A/N: **God, this gets to be a little too emotional for me at times. But here we go…

I was born in the arms of imaginary friends  
Free to roam, made a home out of everywhere I've been  
then you come crashing in, like the realest thing  
trying my best to understand all that your love can bring

**- **_Taylor Swift and John Meyer - Half of my Heart._

**I. **

"It's time." A man walked forward, observing the conversion of metal remnants to one direction in particular, "The Giant was given directions to follow through the process of mind-replacement." He wrinkled his burly black bearded nose. "It seems it has failed…"

"As you should expect from human-embodying clunks of iron." His assistant said.

"At any rate," he paused while they watched the return of the Giant, "Begin it now."

Without a word, the younger man obeyed.

…

_"Giant,"_ His name echoed in his head.

He thought the name of the person who he wanted to see.

_"Giant…" _The voice grew louder.

And again, the Giant thought the name of the person he had left behind; the person whom he had made a promise to return to, the person… The Giant cringed. There were suddenly downed cloned giants everywhere; reduced to no more then scrap metal. But still, even as he felt he was stranded and alone, his name was outright yelled: GIANT! Someone cared.

"Giant." A different voice said from behind him, not far from his hearing sensor.

He gasped, his bearings on reality taking hold. "Hogarth!"

Confused, the Giant looked around in search of his friend but the results were in vain.

"Hogarth?" He was dazed and out-of-sorts. "_Hogarth_," his voice grew frustrated, scared.

"He's gone, Giant." The voice told him in a calm, familiar tone. "And above all, safe."

But he still peered over his shoulder nervously, not trusting this impossible reality.

"I'm not sure…" The Giant said waveringly. His whole life had been his friends.

"She missed you."

Abba, with her smooth red-brown hair and bright green eyes, was placed in his now open palm.

"Ladybug." He said the first word that came to mind – it was what Abba reminded him of.

"That's one name… she's Kina's child," the eyes he met when he looked up could not be more elated to meet his height, "And Hogarth's daughter," Gold's orange eyes brimmed.

"Gold." He was taken with her.

In a menagerie of hodgepodge copper tinted coils and panels, she stood at his height.

"When I was…?"

"Yes." Gold lifted her mandible.

Ven, Tress, Inx and Trina – Archer nowhere to be seen – stood in awe as the two beings stepped forward face-to-face. The Giant was suddenly enraptured in her, his worries and troubles lingering far in the back of his mind. Carefully, and watching the whole time, he slipped his fingers through Gold's and intertwined their hands. Abba cooed a happy coo.

The Giant met Gold's eyes.

"If you ever get the chance to see them again..." She raised a hand to his metal cheek.

He touched it wordlessly.

As the memories of his friends were placed in his heart and mind forever, the Giant slowly leaned forward. Their shutters swirled closed as one, and they didn't stop until the lower parts of their mouths touched. _Hogarth... __Taylor__... _He composed himself, accepting his life.

For the Giant had two new people to love from now on.

**II.**

Hogarth was aware of the water rushing around him; it wasn't something you ever really forgot when you had jumped sixty feet in the air from a white, airborne glider. He noticed that his hands were both intact and a quick feel of his face revealed that, although there was no baby fat clinging to it, there was also no excess flesh either. His relief arrived and left too quickly. "Giant?" He looked around, anxious and scared for him, "Giant, where - ?"

"Hogarth," A weak voice croaked.

"Taylor?" His head jerked around as he struggled to get a clear view, squinting his eyes.

"Honey, over here." She called out to him.

Hogarth noticed her barely keeping afloat in the water about ten feet from him. Breathing in fast, he immediately swam over to her and caught her expanded waist with a single arm as a wave suddenly drew them near shore; and as this happened the couple were treated to a view of the coastline. Hogarth grinned from ear-to-ear, ready to pass out in excitement.

"God, Taylor!" He wrapped his arms around her, ignoring her squirming, "We're _home_!"

"I know," she panted with a laugh, "But, hon, I'm kind of... ah!"

"Taylor," Hogarth brought her close in panic. "Baby, what's wrong?"

"My water..." a light mist of red swirled suspiciously to the top.

"Come on," He took charge, ready to bring her to shore, "Let's..." the distraction of Taylor had been only that; a distraction. Hogarth sensed his absense acutely. "Giant? Buddy...?"

"Hogarth," She started to tell him hastily, "He's in the future. It was the plan all along."

But he didn't hear her. Hogarth was completely at a lost with this realization. It just could not be possible. "No," he stated, wallowing out by himself, "Where is he! He... _oh, no_." a brief pause and Hogarth lost it, thrashing at the water violently. "He said... He _promised_!"

"Hogarth!" Taylor was fairly yelling now.

"God, Taylor, he promised!" the man suppressed his anger poorly. "We... we were going to be fathers together..." Hogarth shook slightly, facing away from her, "partners. B-brothers."

Even as the force of the child against the insides of her stomach made her cringe, Taylor took a deep breath and tried to empathize, "It's like losing half of you, your heart dies."

"Yes." Hogarth said in a pronouced voice, heavy and solid. "It's like losing half your soul."

"And it's like..." She choked on a sob.

He turned to her, needing someone, _something_ to concentrate on.

"It's like you'll never love again."

Hogarth nodded solemnly. "My mother is gone." he said in a low voice. "And my best pal."

"Would you let me love you?" Taylor held out her hand. "Will you start over with me?"

Hogarth turned away, fighting back tears. "I want you... and the rest our family."

"It's not possible, Hogarth." She was on the brink of crying too. "But you still have _me_!"

He didn't look up.

"Dean..."

His eyebrows tightened.

"Our baby," Taylor said softly.

Hogarth's face relaxed.

"Pygmy." she smiled.

He looked up then and Taylor laughed a little – the droid looked down at them with a wider smile. Her presense was something Hogarth could not be depressed about. A feeling of love – not unlike a father's – filled his heart. He looked between the two and breathed in deeply.

"Pygmy, will you do us the honor of getting us to shore?" were his gentle words.

The robot complied. She – to the young couple's amazement – touched Hogarth's head and then tapped Taylor's heart. The man gave Taylor a look but all he received in return was a very perplexed shrug. They watched, mouths agape and eyes enlarged, as a faint yellowish outline formed around the baby inside of Taylor's stomach. Hogarth rubbed at his eyes and had to reach out quickly as Pygmy transmuted into a light skinned, dark paneled purple kind of sea scooter. With her many layers and xanthous eyes, all they had to do was take hold.

"Breathe." Hogarth told Taylor.

She started graciously, the hard sensation in her stomach subdued for now.

"All right, Pyg, let's go!"

Holding on to a handle, and his girlfriend, Hogarth found them sailing smoothly across the sea floor. Pygmy made delighted squeals and seemed to distract Taylor with the calm ride as shoots of water fanned out in clear, crystal sprays. The air was briny, but just to _see _the ocean clear and bristling with undersea life from the shallow depths that they were in had to be the most beautiful thing to Hogarth now. He inhaled the fresh, crisp air, filling healthy oxygen into his lungs and sighing deeply with Taylor at his side. She smiled, painless, and rested her head against his shoulder. Hogarth smiled himself and laid against her a little.

"I love you," he said. Their eyes closed. "And I've gotta say, you're light as a feather babe."

She giggled. "Okay, hon."

"Babe."

"Hon."

They laughed together.

The shore came sooner than they thought, but they unhurriedly started up the sand. And yet, as the timeline was critically drawn to their attention, Hogarth could feel his beloved start to tense up. He examined her worriedly as she started breathing hard next to him.

Her labor was the first thing on his mind that Taylor was experiencing, and he was bracing himself to do what was necessary when the sight of someone sitting upon a gathering of rocks that he, himself, had visited many times after the Giant's departure seven years ago brought him full circle to the time – 1965. "1965." He said aloud as Dean approached him.

To be continued...


	71. In the surrender: Pt 3 of 3

**A/N: **It appears someone else tampered with the memory box that the Giant didn't. O_o

**I. **

"Hogarth!" The man waved at them as he approached. "Who's this with you?"

"Dean?" he said guardedly. "What do you mean _who is this?_"

"Well," Dean, in a brown leather jacket with a gray turtleneck and jeans, shrugged.

"Well, what?"

"I guess I'm just wondering where you were…" His eyes went wide. "Is – is she?"

"Pregnant, yes!" Hogarth said between grit teeth. He didn't like his stepfather's joking.

"You found her like this, kiddo?" Dean turned back to him.

"What the hell do you mean?.! Don't you remember anything?"

"No." He rubbed at his head. "I don't."

Hogarth would have gone further if Taylor weren't enduring such pain. "Dean, please. We need to borrow your bike," he indicated the two-seater motorcycle on the road's shoulder.

"Sure thing, kiddo," He tossed the gold chained, disco-balled set over to him. "Just…"

The younger man paused, looking over his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"Be careful."

Hogarth felt pained. "Do you know what you've lost?"

"No… your mom's at home, Julie's at school. I'm not sure where I've been though."

"Thank you Mr. McCoppin." Taylor said through her teeth.

"I love you, man." Hogarth told the confused thirty-eight-year-old.

Dean grinned uncomfortably. "Well, I do too kid. You've never said that before."

"Never needed to, Dean. You've been a great father and nobody can change that."

Before anymore could be said, Hogarth led a silent Taylor away and neither bothered to ask why or if anyone in the town would ever remember anything about the Iron Giant or anything else that had happened. But as Hogarth situated his girlfriend in the attachment seat, he saw with a slight gasp that she was tearing up. Not usual tears, but large ones of realization. Hogarth didn't say a word as he climbed over the cycle, started up the engine and, gripping her hand in a stable-seeking manner, pursued the highway and the hospital.

"It's a four-minute drive to Ashmore." He finally said. Taylor hugged his waist tightly.

**II. **- Rockwell park.

"Something's not right." Julie mentioned as she looked up and down the main street.

Her father should have been there by now.

When she looked up, a large young man was walking passed her dazedly.

"Excuse me, sir."

"Not now kid, I'm trying to figure out where I was going…"

The little girl noticed that many people were wandering around their shops. She looked back at the stone statue, and puzzled at it. Why was there a piece of earth dug up from the ground and placed to the side? Julianne moved her way passed the concrete-pillared entryway and managed to wobble at a quick pace over on her crutches towards it, afraid someone had tried to remove her father's work. The man from before noticed her do this and went to catch up. "Hey, peach, where're ya runnin' off to? Are your parents around?"

"Someone tried to take my papa's sculpture." She huffed between breaths, moving fast.

"You're pretty quick for a cripple." He grinned.

Julie looked up at his broad, brown-banged face, frowned at that and kept going.

"Am I supposed to know you?" She finally said.

"Don't think so," the man replied, rubbing his scalp, "The last thing I really remember… about seven months have passed since my pop Sheriff Rhinestien took off. But why he did? I can't readily recall." He said as he noticed her try to go into the hole. "Easy kid."

"That's funny." Julianne commented, allowing him to help her into the ground. "All I can remember is two bad guys my mama and papa were running from. And, a Mr. Barnes…"

A glass bottle with a note touched her hand.

"Barnes… Bananas." He chuckled, eyes to the sky as his memories suddenly returned.

She looked up at him as he looked down at her, the recognition clicked.

"Apples." Julie spoke quietly. Her little flowered blouse and pants were dirt covered.

Gordon sighed heavily, "Peaches," his voice caught as he lifted her out.

The rest of the townspeople gathered at their suspicious acts of realization. For the entire town, this seemed to be a focal point of lost memory. The mayor came up and gently took the bottle from Julianne McCoppin. He uncorked the top spout, and slipped out the paper inside of it. As he read the message, a sense of awareness rose though out the crowds.

...

Dean stood by the shore, feeling wistful and lost. A feeling of purposelessness penetrated his heart even as he tried to shrug it off. Why wasn't Hogarth in school, and why, why did he feel like his wife was gone? And _Julianne..._ Dean started along the sealine, turning over these stranges sensations within himself. He was about ready to turn and make the short walk home when he glimpsed the sea scooter that Hogarth had abandoned at the shore.

It's lights blinked.

"What the-?" He mumbled, stepping down the jagged stones abruptly.

The man was about to try and touch it when it rose to a staggering height before him, in a blinding, blue haze a creature formed before him. He took his breaths carefully, measuring out the expanding length of it as he walked backwards. Dean braced himself as the film of azure faded out, and he was suddenly looking up at the creature, his memories returning.

"Hogarth." Dean looked out with incredulous eyes up at the road. "Taylor."

"Hmm." The purple robot agreed from behind him.

A car suddenly appeared on the curb and Robert got out. As he jogged on up towards the other man, Dean noticed from the corner of his eye that Trisha and Daniel were coming up towards him too. Not a word was spoken as they loaded up in the car and drove onwards.

...

Hogarth paced the twentieth century hallway anxiously. His beard fuzzing around his face, shredded clothing and inability to offer I.D. that had been in his leather jacket many years in the future had given him the appearance of a wildreness man. But because Hogarth had grown passed being a teenager, and could speak with certain authority, he had convinced the nurses on duty that they had gotten lost while on a tour of the Maine forests. Hogarth now had on one task in mind; finding out where they would go and where they would live.

He was good at woodwork, automotives and could possibly later enter the army.

_With guns, no less, _he thought, but Hogarth had to figure out his future quickly.

The Giant, he thought sadly, had gone on to do other things.

They could build themselves a place in the wild, live off the land. Most people would think it was wrong to raise a child like that, but Hogarth was adept at survival. Once the baby was born, they'd take to the railroads - a route Hogarth had always dreamed of following and eventually stop off in some other town. It wouldn't be perfect, but they could make it work.

And maybe, someday, he could find his way to working at space travel.

He smiled hopefully to himself, taking a seat facing the closed door to the back room.

The fantasies lingering in his mind began to dissipate as he heard sounds from outside.

When Hogarth looked out the window, he felt his insides falling.

It was Dean and Robert arguing back and forth as Trisha and Daniel came to the building.

"If you go in there, you'll reveal us all!" Taylor's uncle shouted.

"The whole damn town just got their memories back!" Dean shouted back. "And Hogarth-,"

"What about him!.? What _are _you going to do to him, Dean? The boy's probably a wreck."

"He will be after I'm though with him!" The black-haired man breathed tensely, and kicked up at the gravel. Hogarth fell down below the window at this, "I only... I want to see him."

"Dear," An orderly appeared at the door, garbed in a red-cross emblazened white dress.

"Ma'am." He turned to her, trying to compose himself.

She smiled calmly. "They're ready."

Hogarth shot up and out of the waiting room just as the others entered.

"Kiddo..." Dean rushed forward, all traces of anger had vanished from his face.

But he didn't even look his way as he followed the nurse's aid down the hall.

"I'm afraid," she turned towards him critically all of a sudden, "You're looking at trouble."

"Trouble?" Hogarth gaped, his heart speeding up. "Taylor, is she-?"

"She'll need your understanding."

They continued walking down the hall together.

"Is it bad?"

"It's an oddity, sir... best not draw attention to it."

Hogarth gave her a confused expression.

"The child is very misshapened. " She paused as he drilled her with his eyes.

"Please," He said with a start, his voice on the verge of breaking, "Tell me about her."

"_Him... _And I'm afraid you'll need to find a specialist soon."

Hogarth kept his glare until she met his eyes.

"It's some type of progeria."

...


	72. A new start

**I.**

_"It's rapid aging, sir; very rare. You'll need to…"_

The nurse's words faded to the back of Hogarth's head as he moved towards Taylor. She didn't look up from the blue-swaddled bundle she had in her arms, her face was careful in the way she examined the child. In a flash her eyes went up to Hogarth as he approached.

"You know I'll love this baby no matter what."

But Taylor was still looking at him warily. "Hogarth," she said firmly, "We can't do this. He'll need care. He'll need more then we can give. He'll…" her voice broke off, sobbing in a hush.

Hogarth took the young woman in his arms and held her close. His eyes took in the baby she held – he had a round head, a triangular looking face and very scrawny arms. He did not make a peep; his skin was webby and translucent. Wordlessly, Taylor passed the boy to him. The dome-headed infant peered up at him from tiny, swollen dark blue eyes. This was something Hogarth had heard about in the news, and he knew deep down in his hole-filling heart that this baby was born out of the condition of time. The man smiled warmly.

"I couldn't ask for anything better…"

"Hogarth," She reached out and touched his arm.

"I love him." He told her with tears in his eyes, bouncing his son a bit, "He's beautiful."

Taylor covered her mouth. "You really want him?" she asked in a muffle.

"Ivan Grant wants us too… I can tell."

They sat together for as long as time permitted even as the sounds of argument to get into the back went on up front. Hogarth and Taylor sat blissfully with their son, who yawned from between wrinkled little lips. But as they contented themselves, the bigger reality of what they were in for set in and Taylor pressed herself in a quick intake of breath to him.

"What're we going to do, Hogarth?" she whimpered.

"We'll make it," he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"We won't be able to get out the front door without attracting attention."

He didn't speak a moment.

"Hogarth?" Taylor peered up through misty eyes at him.

"Come on," the man gave her the child back, and slipped over her bed, "Let's leave."

"Hogarth Hughes!" She rebuked as he inched towards the window.

"It's now or never Taylor," He held out his hand to her. "We either salvage what's left of our family," his eyes switched to the noisy crowd coming down the hall. "Or they will…"

She didn't hesitate – to stay where she was. "I love you, honey. But Ivan deserves more."

Her words did nothing to lessen the crushed look in his eyes as the door opened.

"I love you too, baby." He said as he came to stand beside her, watching the others enter.

…

When Trisha saw her daughter, she couldn't help herself. The woman flew towards her but the sight of the alien-appearing child made her back away in horror. Robert, Daniel and Dean wore rather stern looks as they approached a glaring Hogarth. Gordon along with Julianne wasn't far behind them. She looked at her brother and her eyes widened.

…

"Hoggie! Bubby!"

The men turned to her in surprise.

"Hi, Julies." He said softly.

Tears came surging fast. "I missed you."

Hogarth smiled grimly. "I missed you too, sweetheart."

Dean made a quick stride forward to stand in front of her.

"I guess what I said back at the ocean doesn't apply anymore, Dean."

This made him reel back.

"Hogarth." Daniel warned.

"And Grandad." He turned his hard gaze towards him. They – ladies aside – went agape.

"Not here." The man said gruffly.

"What about our lovely little –,"

"Garth man." Gordon stepped between Dean and Daniel. "Not cool."

"A replacement brother!" Hogarth's eyes snapped to Dean. "Well I'll be a bitchin' broad."

His stepfather's jaw line clinched.

Hogarth relented and shook his head in disbelief, softening. "We were a family, Dean."

"Things change, Garth." The man told him stolidly. "I care about you, but things are very different now." He stepped forward, trying not to upset him more. "Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand that I'm not welcomed in my own town anymore."

"Bubby!" Julianne struggled against Gordon's inclosing arms.

"Hogarth," Robert approached him too, his hand out calmingly, "Let's just talk."

Soon all four men appeared to be ganging up on Hogarth and the two women.

"Guys, hold off." He tried to get to the baby, outnumbered but possibly not outmatched.

Hogarth was about to act when something appeared from behind him that made the other guys react. His brows knitted together, and he strained to look over his shoulder as a huge yellow eye peered through the window. A grin crossed his face and he looked back at the four of them with a wicked glint to his eye; they exchanged looks and backed away then.

"Pretty sad when it has to come to this." He said seriously.

"It is." Robert agreed ruefully.

"Gord?" Hogarth glanced his way.

The man nodded stiffly and stepped away with Julie still in his arms.

"Dean, come on… you are who you choose to be! Remember? Aren't we still friends?"

Tiredness entered his brown eyes. "As I said…" the suddenly middle-aged man trailed.

Hogarth stepped forward, holding out his hands. "_Dean._" He tried to reach for him.

"Not today, Garth." His hands went up. "Not for a long time."

"After all we've been through…" He dropped his arms. "And I'm only Garth to you."

"You've grown up without me, Hogarth," Dean sighed, "What else do you need?"

Hogarth placed his hand in Taylor's – he looked up at him honestly. "Help."

"They said it would be hard for us to be together after this, Hogarth." She suddenly said.

"The word you're looking for, dear, is 'impossible.'" Trisha corrected, giving a sniff.

"Bubby," Julianne had managed to slip from Gordon's hold and was coming up to him.

"Sissy," Hogarth knelt down to her level.

She eyed his beard-lined face and ran her fingers through it. "You have fur now."

Gordon chuckled deeply, despite the tension in the room.

Hogarth glanced up, surprised at his reaction.

The nineteen-year-old's laugh lines disappeared as he stared into the other man's eyes.

"Thank you."

Gordon nodded in understanding. Julianne smiled at that and went into her brother's arms to no one's objections. Hogarth held her close to his chest – rocking her gently now – just savoring the moment as he swung back and forth more fiercely. His shoulders shuddered.

He saw Dean start to reach out but halt from touching him. Hogarth could feel his strong set eyes heating, warm tears streaming from the depths of his soul and falling to the floor.

"God," he sobbed with a shake, grasping a now sobbing Julie to him as well.

Dean, Robert and Gordon filed out of the room as Daniel waited for them to finish.

Hogarth looked up at him, his eyes shamefully puffy and red. "Mr. Barnes?" he spoke.

"Hogarth," He took a compliant Julianne, with her crutches, into his arms.

A smile crossed the younger man's face: "You would've made one hell of a gramps."

Surprisingly, Dan smiled.

Hogarth narrowed his eyes. "Sir?"

"I can help you, Hogarth." He looked from him to the other four looking at him.

Pygmy, Taylor, her mother and Ivan.

"Provided…?" Hogarth urged him.

"Provided you're willing to start _all over,_" He handed over a form. "I see that you've already named my…" Dan took a breath and said, "My great-grandson. It's time for a total change."

To be continued…

**A/N: **Two more chapters, folks. These will be set thirty years apart, btw. ;)

LP


	73. Courage to change

**I.**** – **_Rockwell__, __Maine__. 1969._

When you want time to go faster, it moves slower. When you don't want it to be over, it's over faster than you have time to believe it passed by you so fast. So what if there was a person who controlled time and protected it, along with the people who lived in these protected time zones? What if that person; a protector; existed?

* * *

A fuchsia-colored 1966 Schwinn Stingray gleamed in its airflow design as the sun hit it, pedaling down the sidewalk. The girl riding the modified bike smiled happily and glanced down at the book entitled _The Iron Man_ bundled under her white seat. And just as the girl rounded the corner, a couple in their twenties looked over her way and gave a big wave.

"Peaches!" the man called out, stepping out in his banking uniform. "Good morning."

She grinned at him and his young wife. "Morning, Mr. and Miss Apples!"

Gordon laughed loudly as Julianne cycled by and turned off towards the cement walls of Rockwell's park. Riding alongside it, she saw a few of her friends who waved over at her and called her name. Finally, as the sight of the statue came into view, familiar sadness touched the eleven-year-old's heart as she turned into the enclosure and went over to a wood and iron wrought bench facing the grass-patched over base of the robot memorial.

"Hi." She smiled over at the seemingly always pleasant Giant face.

The statue was starting to rust a bit, and looked rather weathered. Julianne's father was due to come out to try and restore some of the more rough-looking parts of it, and even then she knew that her father would go right back to the way he was ::: entirely private and reserved. Whereas Julianne loved going out, her father had decided to go back to a life of near complete solitude. Only his daughter was permitted into his home nowadays.

And only partially because she was his daughter. Dean McCoppin rarely spoke to anyone.

Julianne sighed, opening up her saved page of the novel that was based on the rumors of the Iron Giant of Rockwell. In it, a boy named Hogarth had discovered a big fifty-foot giant robot who ate tractors and only defended the townspeople against an alien invader who was called a 'Space Dragon' because the townspeople made the metal the robot needed.

Her brother - Julianne sighed in memory - was a distant friend of the author and being an author himself, had given the man ideas for his story. A story that the man could not ever know was based on factual events. Unfortunately, Julianne very rarely even saw Hogarth.

She looked back down, trying to concentrate on her book.

The roar of a purple-laced motorcycle pulling up to the sidewalk caught her attention.

Julianne jerked her eyes up in surprise, turning afraid of the imposing sound. A man clad in green and brown patterned camouflage swung his leg off the middle part and he came up to the sidewalk. The motorcycle seemed to rise sideways, and Julianne grinned widely as she saw the kickstand fly down by itself and prop up against the grey cement. Of course...

"Pygmy," she mouthed to herself and then looked up at the approaching young man.

He grinned at her from behind a green army cap and a pair of John Lennon styled shades.

"Bubby!" Julianne laughed as he caught her in a hug.

"Hey, baby!" Hogarth laughed as well, moving his glasses up on his forehead.

"I thought you were gonna leave without saying goodbye to me." She voiced her worries.

Half-shocked, half-amused, he gave her another hug. "And miss seeing my favorite girl?"

Julianne didn't ask about Taylor; she and Julianne's nephew lived three hours away.

"Is Ivan doing good?"

"Swell," Hogarth assured her, ruffling her braided black hair. "He's being home-schooled."

She smiled, knowing what he really meant.

They looked at each other with wistful looks and then turned to see the wearing metal of of the statue. When Julianne peered up inconspicuously, she saw her brother's eyes had changed into a far-away gaze. He was in another time and was reveling in memories that she was no part of. But, quickly, his eyes caught hers ... yet he did not mask his feelings.

"How can you still believe after everything that happened, Julies?"

"What do you mean?" She asked gently.

Hogarth's eyes reflected the deep pain he suppressed. "How can you still have faith after everything with your dad and our mom? It would've made anyone else doubt their lives."

Julianne looked down at the book in her lap, thinking.

"I believe..." she met his eyes with a teary-eyed smile, "Because I believe in _you_, Bubby."

He breathed heavily, his cheeks already streaked in tears. Julianne reached over and put her hand on his arm as he laced his big ones. Slowly, as he heaved in deep breaths, the mother-turned girl took him halfway into her arms and let him hold her small body to him.

They looked back up together at the statue.

"One small step for the Giant." Julianne said happily.

"One Giant leap..." Hogarth turned with a sudden grin to her. "For robot-kind."

As mid-day arrived, they shared one final laugh together.

**II. - **Late day.

The sun setting over the ocean horizon cast a familiar yet somehow seraphic feel. Hogarth always felt a sense of peace and release when he stared across the golden glazed water that held an abundance of life he hoped wouldn't dwindled in the years to come. From his place on the large lighthouse, Hogarth could see the streaks of serrated sun like streams of golden tears spreading from the far skyline all the way up to the soft sands of sea line.

"Johnny!" The keeper of the lighthouse called up to him from his quarters.

"Sir?" He called down to the white-bearded man, grinning a bit as he did.

"If you're gonna catch the train tomorrow, ya better come down here and get some sleep."

"Sure thing, Pete!"

Pete Langley had been a good friend towards Hogarth ever since the Giant's departure. With only his grandfather and the occasional arranged visit to see Julie, Hogarth's (John Rice's) life had been composed of work and child support. Taylor, Robert and Trisha made many visits to a specialist for Hutchinson–Gilford syndrome. Hogarth sighed to himself; the trio went on these trips to a few places in America and Germany to try and find treatment for five-year-old Ivan Grant. In a way it was almost a pipe-dream that he even had a son.

In half a decade, aside from several select phone calls, Hogarth hadn't seen any of them.

"Hogarth." A cat-like creature of paneled light and dark purple walked in perfect balance around the jutting cement ring, looking curious. "It's getting late," its soft voice told him.

"I know." He reached out and stroked it's smooth mechanical head. Pygmy - after having a brief contact with Ivan before he had to leave - was able to shape-shift into most objects.

"You think you're ready for military life, Pyg?" Hogarth flicked her swiveling ears.

Giving a light giggle, the droid shifted to a creature resembling a pig. Without any kind of bright lights or weird head-to-heart techniques, Pygmy was able to move her joints, pegs and sockets in a revolving and reshaping manner like the Giant's ability to repair himself only in a more complex process. Hogarth had accepted it, though had set up a few rules.

"Heard from family?" She asked casually.

The twenty-one-year-old smiled sympathetically - Pygmy was still very child-like.

"No, baby." He picked her up as she curled up like a movable toaster in his lap.

"Sad?"

This was a typical question on her part.

"Thinking," Hogarth answered, continuing to run his hand down her large surface until she slipped back into her preferred cat form and trotted off along the siding to the inside parts.

He shook his head with a smile and looked back at the setting sun before heading inside.

**III. **

Hogarth woke up early the next morning to find Pygmy in her normal form outside grazing for metal. He smiled at this and started to gather his things. The outside of the ocean view was a calm deep blue haze that gathered over the horizon. With a small bundle and a very quick prayer to the only Protector he was ever going to have for the rest of his life, Hogarth started out into the beginning of daybreak. Pygmy looked up at him and took the man into her palm. The droid's eyes glowed a soft, baby chick yellow as always. He sighed, resigned.

"It's always gonna be just us, isn't it?"

She blinked with a roving eye shutter blink and pointed at Hogarth. He scratched his buzz-cut head and looked down at his chest, which seemed to feel a little warmer to him. Giving her a strange look, Hogarth unbuttoned his light army jacket, pulled down his light cotton shirt and a mystified, elated smile brightened up his usually reserved face at what he saw.

A red, pulsating insignia of two H's and the initials IG appeared under his skin.

"Superman returned," Hogarth spoke in awe.

...

As late morning entered and a purple lined motorcycle pulled away down the gravely slope of the Rockwell sea line, something rustled from beneath a pair of conifers and two figures with lit eyes watched at the young man rode away. Their shadows casting down over the wrapping hills caught Hogarth's attention, one of the shapes appeared to have a shape of a crest sticking out of its head. He slowed down a bit, easing off of the gas as it appeared to be watching him leave. His heart sped up, and when he looked down he saw the face of Pygmy strobed in light gold looking up at him. Hogarth took a deep breath; and carried on.

* * *

Sometimes it's better to let those you love go, as you know they'll always be in your heart.

- _Hogarth Johnston Hughes._

To be continued...


	74. The protectors of Rockwell

**I. **- Rockwell, Maine: 2000.

It's hard to believe time passes so slowly. And yet, it isn't slow at all.

* * *

Morning sunlight glanced off the windows of the wrap-around beach house that stood just up the hill from the lower grassy landing of the Rockwell lighthouse. A man around his early fifties sat on a porch swing, effortlessly typing on a keyboard with one hand. The veins on his wrinkled skin protruded now and again as he wrote an article for the local newspaper he was employed to – a career John Rice had done for years on end. Hogarth meanwhile...

"Hoggie," A voice said from the window screen-enclosed area.

"I'm out here, Julies." He called into the grey-holed panels. "Just finishing the front page."

"Any promising young journalists?" Julianne asked as she wheeled herself outside.

"Oh, they come and go. I'm glad I could finally make it back to my home town."

She grimanced. "Last night was your first time back in this town in over thiry years, Bub."

Hogarth looked up at his younger sister and smiled. The forty-one-year-old woman gave him a look and tossed her silver-streaked black braid over one shoulder. A car suddenly turned up the winding road and parked in the driveway; two adults with children exited the vehicle.

"Be nice," Julianne prodded her older brother's arm.

He grinned and the yellow of his teeth showed. "Aren't I always, Sis?"

"Grandma!" the youngest boy cried out happily and ran up to give her a hug.

A preteen boy merely lagged behind his cell-phone engrossed, suited father as the twenty – something mother strode up with thinned-blonde hair and full red lips to give Julianne a strong armed hug; the son-in-law peered over at the older adults, offering up a polite nod.

"Boy!" Hogarth called over to him loudly, "What a trip you all must have had!"

Julianne sent him a suppressed look of mock rage, trying hard not to laugh.

The young man nodded again feverishly and walked towards the edge of the hillside.

When Hogarth looked down, his half - nephew was staring up at him curiously; the boy was only five-years-old. The man smiled in welcome and invited the boy to sit on his left knee. A smile flickered across his face and he hopped onto the suddenly sore leg. Hogarth grinned and beared it before showing his new charge the article he'd been writing up for the paper.

There was a third presence beside them.

"Oh, not you too!" Julianne's daughter exclaimed. "Honestly… strange outer space types of phenomenon is the _last _piece of crap I want the kids exposed to, Mom. Do you not agree?"

The older woman assumed a protective expression. "Honestly, I don't dear." She wheeled her way over and put a hand on her brother's arm. "The matter is open to intrepretation."

But her daughter only scowled, returning to the car to retrieve their luggage.

"Do you really believe in aliens?" the small boy asked.

Hogarth smiled and set the laptop aside. "They're real if you believe they are." he said.

"Well, Dad and Mom think Uncle Garth is a little..." Everyone turned to the older boy.

He swallowed hard.

"Go on, son." Hogarth grinned widely. "There isn't much I haven't heard."

It suddenly turned quiet as the man's chatter away from the house ceased. They turned as one towards the source of the son-in-law's attention; a strange silver streak of light was in the sky, making perculiar patterns across the big blue backdrop. Hogarth stood up straight.

"Everyone, _in the house_!"

The boys complied immediately while Julianne had to practically drag her whimpering child in by the arm, and being able to control her wheelchair perfectly at the same time she had nearly all of them inside the house. Except for one person. Hogarth yelled out for the man staring with wide eyes and a limp, cell-phone holding arm to come inside. But soon it was very clear that he wasn't about to budge an inch. Grumbling a curse word, Hogarth limped out towards him and managed to wheel him over to face him. The young man was stunned.

"Listen, buddy. When I say 'get in the house' I mean GO!" He shoved him in the direction of the beach home, took one last look at the gleaming metal object hurtling in his wake and managed to limp his way back over to the porch. But to his shock the boys waited outside.

Hogarth glanced over at the frightened man as he rushed passed them and into the door.

"Son of a gun," the older man muttered. What a coward his niece had married.

A giant wave suddenly appeared over the base of the hill and Hogarth found that he had to grab onto his half - nephew as the surge of the water thundered passed them. Shouts and yelling came from inside, but Hogarth managed to wrap his arm around a porch rail and hold on for dear life. Once the brute force of the wave passed, he anxiously glimpsed to see the brown-haired, green-eyed boy staring up at him - and then with a wildly excited little grin.

"Exciting enough for ya?" Hogarth asked him.

He nodded energetically.

"My baby!" His niece-in-law cried out and bolted from the door, yanking the child to herself.

"Mama..."

"Dear, God!" She snarled from behind a make-up melted face. "What do you think -!.?"

"Honey!" her husband pointed out at trees in the distance - a grin on his face: "Look!"

From atop a swinging conifer, the oldest boy was clinging and laughing.

Hogarth hid his smile by glaring up at a water-drenched Pygmy emerging from the waters.

"Bonzai." He said under his breath.

...

With a long stretch, a seventy-year-old Dean McCoppin stepped out of his residence and on into the brilliant sunshine. He visored his eyes with his hand as he waved patiently to the town's new garbage personel. It would seem that Rockwell would be the last town in the state of Maine to switch to the big clunking pieces of metal called garbage trucks. But after legends of the Iron Giant had faded out and eventually Dean had had to relocate his well perserved Giant statue back to his cleared out junkyard, he had just accepted the change.

He wasn't a sculptor; he wasn't really anything. His time was spent watching TV as he had plenty of money to live off of, and paying the occasional visit to his daugther. That was life.

As the man ran a hand through his white hair and started out to check for the paper, there was something that caught his eye off towards the side of the wire-wrapped lot. A flawless and intricately crafted rocketship resembling the one from the first lunar landing of 1969 in all of its glory stood before him in dark grey and copper laced splendor. Dean sighed lightly.

"Giant..." He grinned; his suspicions over the missing pieces of metal from his scrap yard all these years finally confirmed. "But, wait," the man teared up, "That has to mean Hogarth is finally back." At this revelation, Dean's watery brown eyes turned towards his work shop -:

"It's time."

**II. **- At the old Rockwell power plant, late day...

The news of Taylor had opened up deep wounds Hogarth had thought were sealed over all of these years. While Pygmy had stayed behind with Julianne; who had told him the news, Hogarth had decided to seek out time alone. His tired, wet eyes levelled with the top of the reconstructed yet abandoned power station. Apparently it had been this way since the late seventies. It was one of many things Hogarth had not been a part of. He let his head hang.

"God, please... protect her. Let Taylor know that I never stopped loving her."

_"Hogarth." _the voice was just a whisper; barely audible to the man.

But the speaker needn't have been loud as Hogarth knew the person's voice anywhere.

With a heavy sigh, thirty four years quickly dissolved. He pressed his forehead into his hand and started breathing faster. Something moved closer behind him and enclosed near his left side. Hogarth reached out and felt something cool... metallic almost. He smiled slowly as his hand closed around the tip of an iron-patched finger, only to fade as he examined it closely.

Brown oxidiation had started to erode the smoke-gray. Hogarth looked further down along the big hand as he took a seat on the close-toed foot behind him. Patch after patch of deep brown made unattractive splotched streaks up the once pure gray arm. He smiled again at the invitation the hand suddenly seemed to give to him, and climbed with some assistance. From there, the ground left Hogarth and he was elevated upward. He didn't, however, turn.

"It's been a long time, old pal."

"Yes," the deep voice answered at a normal level, calm, "It has... but I never left."

Hogarth turned to look at the gentleness in the robot's aged white eyes.

"The door's always been open," He patted his chest, "The house is vacant nowadays."

The Giant's lower shutters slid up. "I've never been able to fit into a house, Hogarth."

Fresh tears filmed the man's eyes. "That doesn't mean the offer ever went anywhere."

Without another word, Hogarth held out his arms as the Giant brought him in closely.

"I've waited for you."

"I'm here." He pressed closer to the rusted metal chest.

"I didn't give up..."

Hogarth looked up at the devotion gleaming in his best friend's eyes.

"That's right," he wiped at his own, breathing with a shudder, "You never gave up on me."

"If it's all right," a voice suddenly called up to them, and they both looked down in surprise as a red motorcycle swung around to stop just feet from them, "It's been three decades in the making, but I thought I owed someone their old bike back." Dean flashed them a grin.

"I'll be damned, McCoppin." Hogarth grinned back down. "It's been thirty damn years."

"Still the king of Coolsville, Mr. Hughes?" his white brow raised. The Giant turned sideways.

"Well?" He asked interestedly.

"Downtown Coolsville..." Hogarth said wryly, crossing his arms and smirking, "Popluation...:"

The trio answered as one.

_"Us!"_

_..._

"I will never give up on you, Hogarth." The Giant said as he placed the limping man atop his shoulder. "I knew you would choose your path in life," he smiled, "And it wouldn't be mine."

"It took a trip to the future to make me realize that." Hogarth agreed seriously.

"You really believed you weren't good enough...?" his friend started to question.

"I did." He nodded shamelessly. "But... maybe everyone does at one time."

"It just takes a protector to make them see it another way." The Giant encouraged.

"Or a best pal," Hogarth told him sincerely, holding up the nub of his amputated right arm.

In a simple gesture, the Giant unscrewed his left hand and placed it atop his open shoulder. Exchanging fulfilled looks, both friends walked off into the fading sunset to join their family...

Their combined shadows matched perfectly in the lengthening greyness.

The End.

**A/N: **Thank you to _EVERYONE _who read and reviewed, you know who you are *cough* Blackdragon/Black Valentine *cough* . ;) Seriously, thank you for stickin' around all this time!

It's meant a lot.

Lavenderpaw


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